Boss CE-20 Chorus Ensemble

I didn't get a manual with mine, but you really shouldn't need one. This is a very easy pedal to operate and program. Programming in my opinion is the ce-20's main strength, because switching your chorus settings on fly is impossible without it.

Sounds great, but of course it isn't the best sounding chorus in the world. I really like the rich, standard, and ce-1 settings, but the others are ok as well. I am mainly an acoustic guitar player, so some of the settings really don't work on my martin like they would an electric. My pedalboard goes like this

Martin -> BBE Acoustimax -> BD-2 -> CE-20 -> ART Tube mp -> PA/Fishman Loudbox

Has worked like a charm so far, and I doubt that it ever breaks on my pedalboard.

never dealt with them

This pedal really suits my guitar style like a charm. I like switching chorus sounds during a song to change the dynamics and to keep things interesting. I have been playing for about 8 years and most of my gear revolves around my martin. If it were lost or stolen I would absolutely purchase again, or hunt down the guy who stole it. My favorite feature is being able to change chorus settings on the fly without bending down to physically change them.

It is fairly easy to get a decent sound out of this pedal straight out of the box with the default settings. One should review the manual for details on making changes to the defaults as the manual identifies which type of chorus is associated with each of the 4 memory settings. You can also modify the memory display so you can see which patch you are in if you are performing in a dark setting. The manual is pretty good for configuring the pedal itself.

I have this at the end of my signal path and have it connected to a Radial Engineering effects loop switch because it is not true bypass. My setup is Guitar (strat, EB Luke or Steinberger Snyapse) BOSS TU-2 Tuner -> FullTone Clyde Deluxe Wah -> EHX Holy Stain -> FullTone OCD -> Bypass Switch -> CE-20 -> MXR 10 Band Eq - > BOSS NS1 Noise Suppressor -> Marshall JCM 900. I can get some pretty decent sounds out of standard chorus, the CE-1 is a nice wet chorus sound and sounds nice with or without the Overdrive. I don't use the Dimension D too much, I'm not a big fan of the sound it provides. The one thing that I definitely do not like about this pedal is that it sounds very overdriven and the peak light comes on a lot even at low settings with all my guitars. The manual says to tweak the ambiance and brilliance settings until the peak light doesn't come on. In my setup, I have to turn these settings way back which defeats the purpose of having the effect. Also, if you daisy chain the power connections, there is an audible whirring sound. So you must provide individual power to this pedal.

The pedal build quality seems good. I think I could gig with this pedal without worrying about it dropping off on me. In hindsight though, I wish I had tried a few different pedals before buying this one.

When I first got this pedal, I tried to daisy chain the power with a couple of other BOSS pedals using a PSA120 and I got a noticeable whirring sound out of the pedal through my effects chain. When I sent a query to BOSS about the noise, they never mentioned to me not to daisy chain the power, they only said "The pedal has been on the market for 6 years and nobody has ever complained of noise." Which I found very unhelpful. I did a search on the Internet and found that others had the same problem and that it was because I was daisy chaining the power. I sent a follow-up to my original request for support and the response I got was "Oh yeah, we don't recommend that you daisy chain the power to this pedal because of noise." I didn't see that mentioned anywhere in the documents either. I did see that it says that Cell phones used in close proximity to this pedal may cause noise but who uses their cell phone while they are playing?

I play blues and classic rock and have been playing since the 70's. If this pedal were stolen, broken, lost or otherwise not available to me anymore, I would probably try some boutique Chorus pedals like the Retro-Sonic before I would buy another one of these. I bought this pedal based on the reviews I read without trying it first. I was replacing a multi-effects unit that I had but got tired of where I used the chorus a lot (chorus was actually the only good effect on that pedal) but I am overall neutral on this BOSS Chorus pedal and I won't buy another one for sure.

One glance at the manual (online) will show how simple it is to program the memory settings. The rest is as simple as any other pedal w/ numerous dials.

I only use the Dimension D & CE-1 settings, which are superb. The others are mediocre, but again I bought it only for the two sounds that I knew were great. The ambiance parameter adds metallic awfulness & should be dialed off or on just a touch.

Never had major problems w/Boss pedals & I've had many on & off for 25 yrs.

Their website should have most of what people need. Have never phoned them.

It's a great pedal & value to buy used (115 incl. shipping). Mine was in very good condition & cost less than half of retail. I got it to replace an old CE-3 which I didn't like, but tolerated for far too long.

The unit is easy to tweak to get the sound you are looking for. I played through a different amp recently and had to turn the high or treble nob up for the first time and I was really impressed. It fixed my sound and gave me just enough highs. I have tweaked with all the nobs and I can find all the sounds I need.

I suggest being conservative with the brilliance nob. Little to none at all works best. You can go more if you are clear but not when distorted.

I like this pedal. It is quite versatle and tweakable. It is like having 5 pedals in one. I like switching between songs for different sounds.
Rich - is full and thick sounding
Bass - is simular to a slight flange - you can get the Stranglehold bass sound out of this with a bass -COOL!
Acoustic - sounds great with electric. Haven't tried with acoustic yet.
Dimention D - COOL affect esp with two amps or recording! A must for recording!!!!
CE 1 cool versatle effect

It's a boss their built Ford Tough

Never had to deal with the fine folks

I play gospel, classic rock, harder rock, and jazz.
I have been playing roughly 30 years. I am currently using a boss NS-2 Noise Suppressor, Crybaby 535 Q, Jekyll and Hyde distortion, Route 66 overdrive, Boss CE 20 Chorus, Boss DD -20 digital delay, and BBE Sonic Stomp. Guitars Les Paul Standard and Strat custom classic.
I like this pedal because of it's versatility. I hate the boring chorus sound that never changes. I can set this any way I like and change it for every song!

Seemed really easy to me. the presets and the manual are worth going through. there are some cool pedal set-up options for switching sounds and changing the LEDs to reflect what patch you are on. also when you want to edit your patch from memory the pots may be in a diff place than when you fist set them but the CE-20 want make any changes to the sound until the pot matches the original value you left it at, once this happens the LED starts to flash. i thought that was a nice touch.

People have mentioned the power problems. i am running this in a BCB-60. this has a special power supply with a 1000mA capacity. i am running the BD-2, CE-20, DD-20 and RV-5 with no problems so its about 50% capacity.

sound qaulity is great, i love this pedal, no noise. my set up is as follows

Gibson SG Standard -> BD-2 -> CE-20 -> DD-20 -> RV-5 -> x2 Roland Cube 60s (set to JC Clean, EQ all @ 12 oclock, presence = off)

when i first started using this i was so inspired i wrote 2 new songs :)

seems solid enough to me

dont know

i kinda play/write, nu rock / jazz fusion. clean effects nice delays. occational distortion but not harsh. i had a GT 8 before this set-up, which is a great unit but way to complicated for what i need plus i think the tonal quality of seperates is much better than a MFX Pedal.

its easy. its a guitar pedal. if you cant figure it out you are an idiot. the interface is easy and obvious as well.

im not a total purist and im no expert at chorus, but i'd say a few things here
-NO noise whatsoever. i dont screw around with 'daisy chaining' or whatever so i cant speak for improper power connections but with an adapter this thing is outer space quiet.

-the standard chorus is a bit boring, but does the job as expected with high quality and no noise
-the RICH is basically the same, but just more effect. you can get a bit wilder sounds here, but nothing too funky, just very icy.
-BASS chorus i think it really cool. i only use regular guitar but this has like an air of phaser or leslie or flanger in it. its a deeper swirl than a regular chorus. really stands out with distortion on. wonder how it sounds with a bass...
-DIMENSION D i never knew what this thing was, still dont, but i think its great on here because you can actually get a different sound out of this than from the regular chorus settings. differences also stand out with distortion on. i dont know how to describe the difference but its just different than standard. maybe a differnt kind of LFO for the chorusing. sounds cool.
-CE-1 i have only played with earphones so far and this sounds like crap with them but its another very different chorus sounds and ill bet it sounds great through an amp proper. dont know yet though.

all sounds are crystal clear. sometimes the differences in sound are a bit too sublte to hear to the untrained ear, but sometimes not. you have to tweak it. I give this a 10, but it probably deserves a 9 because there are so many knobs but no way to get real funky sounds out of it, which im always partial to try to do (like you can with a flanger or phaser, but i suppose chorus is just a different more subtle entity).

brilliance knob just makes it sound like tin, and makes this thing very noisey. turn it on, sounds like crap, and adds noise to a pedal which is dead quiet. i wont use it but you can if you like.

ambience is just a "room" setting reverb. kinda pointless since i have a reverb pedal, but whatever. sounds fine i guess just not so useful.

of course. boss tank

why do you need them. its boss

i think it does all. i wouldnt buy it new though... i got a big discount

It's very easy to get a sweet sound. the "Rich" selection is very potent and can be customized pretty easily. Dimensional D is a great smooth chorus, definately easy on the ears. OF course I give it an 8 because certain knobs are not used with certain selection. You will probably have to read the manual for full use.

Well first DON"T daisy chain it...which is probably what that other guy did. I had it on a chain at first which created so much hiss it was ridiculous. That's because this pedal has the biggest electric consumption I've seen out of any pedal thus far. The CE-20 puts out 165mA...the standard boss PSA adapter only provides 200mA. If the effects that are daisy chained together exceed 200...yes, you will have a lot of hiss. Of course no one worries about this because most pedals are under 40mA especially the custom boutique ones (which run 10 mA usually). But besides foolhardy rigging the sound is amazing this IS the only chorus pedal you will need. Anything from smooth to shimmering and all the tones in between. The rate is customizable as well.

Oh yeah, Boss pedals are made like tanks...and show it through weight.

Never really dealt with them...but the corporations are bad with this kind of stuff anyway...also I had to consult somebody completely unaffiliated with boss to find out why the hiss was there...

I play basically anything and everything with a guitar in it...except emo! I went with this pedal because of the customization one can make with the chorus sound...and because I was impressed with the smooth Dimensional D sample I heard. It's very easy to find a shimmering chorus, a smooth one is often harder to find. If it was stolen I might consider something different (just to get something new feeling) but most likely I'd come back to the CE-20...its hard to imagine a chorus that can top it. 200 is A little expensive for a guitar pedal...buy a used one for $100 if you can.

Knobs are good. Memory not difficult to program.

I bought for the CE-1 and Dimensional D sounds, but have found the Bass sound good for boosting highs and lows--jangly like a Vox AC30. It changes the signal, but not in a bad way. I do not like the Brilliance knob because it adds noise to the signal.

No problems in the short time I've had it. No problems at all with previous BOSS pedal, RV-3. Solidly built.

Not required

The BOSS CE-20 is a very useful pedal that enhances the sound of my guitar while adding dimension--A high quality sound. I do not need an additional EQ. While I play mostly clean sounds with boosted overdrive for solos, the pedal makes my very good Warmoth Tele-style hollowbody guitar with neck PAF pickup sound great through my Mesa-Boogie Subway Rocket amp. For background, I've been playing since 1979 and own a Strat and a Jazz bass. I also own a Digitech RP-50 which I use for amp, delay and reverb sounds direct to a church sound system with monitors and for direct recording. The CE-20 chorus sounds are much better than the RP-50's.

Very easy to use, manual is useful.
Editing is a snap - dial and save.
More Chorus sounds than anyone will ever need.
Go to the Boss Corparate site -

http://www.bosscorp.co.jp/en/index.html

for better sound & setting samples.

My set up consists of the following:
Amps - (Mesa Engineering)

Duel Rectifier & 4-12 cab
F-30 1-12 Combo

Guitars -
2 LP Standards
American Deluxe Strat
Ibanez AS-120

Effects - Boss
CE-20
DD-20
SD-1
FZ-3
PH-3
TR-2
TU-1
Budda Bud-Wah
Dunlop Brick Power Supply

I use the CE-20 in the effects loops of either amp with great results.
The sounds are clear & quiet. I feel the CE-1 and Dimensional D are the Standouts. I can get just about any chorus sound out there, anyone who says that they all sound the same is not spending any time getting there sound. It's a fantastic tool. I also power this with its own adapter, it has certain voltage requirements. (as do all the twin pedals).

DUH

Never had to deal with

My style is Rock, Blues, Fusion thing - or at least try to.
I have been playing for well over a decade and i think this may be the last chorus i buy, it has every damn chorus Boss made in there. While i can't vouch for the accuracy of the CE-1 (never heard the original). The Dimensional is right there, and sounds great. I would replace it if need be. I used to own all "boutique bullshit" pedals and never got the right sound, they all lacked something. I guess they are left for "vintage type tone snob players" I have come full circle and back to Boss, when you step on the them, they work, and sound great - bottom line. If Boss if good enough for all my favorite guitar hero's, they are good enough for me.

Peace & Music

There are so many combinations that it will take you a while just to give each of them a fair try, but its not hard to do.

This is a great pedal. So many sounds, very clear, no noise. Just follow everyone else's advice and get a power supply for it. I use a carvin mts 3212 with a gibson sg, other pedals right now - maxon comp ->boss bd2 modded -> george dennis super volume/phaser -> boss ce-20 -> arion saf-1 -> ibanez de7. just waiting to get a tremelo and some sort of pitch shifter. i can get about 4 million different tones and sounds out of all of this...its great. But right now, the ce-20 is my favorite pedal, i never want to be without one again.

Seems like it might be a bit easier to injure than other Boss pedals, but it is totally solid.

don't know

For the price I got it at, its been a great investment. I love using it all the time, its just the coolest box of sounds. If you find a reasonable deal on one, I would say to grab it.