Boss CE-2B Bass Chorus

The CE-2B is fairly easy to use, with only RATE, EFFECT LEVEL, AND DEPTH controls. I usualy keep the E LEVEL and DEPTH up all the way, and vary the intensity of the chorus with the RATE knob. (All the way down for a slight doubling, to about 9 to 10 O/clock for a heavy sworl, and usualy somewhere inbetween.

I originaly bought it to use with my 72 Jazz Bass and 78 Rick 4001(and that is still my main application), but what I discoverd that impressed me the most is how it sounds with guitar. Since normal chorus units affect the entire frequency range low to high, the fundamentals as well as all harmonics have that wet swerly tone, and dry direct solidity is non existant. The beauty of the CE-2B is it only choruses the harmonics and high end, leaving low frequency fundamentals dry as a bone. What all this means is you can play chords and riffs with a good dry in your face solidity, while you have a trippy psycadelic top end (especialy with leads and pinch harmonics). Of course it sounds realy good on bass as well. I mainly use it with an Ibanez TS9 Tubescreamer and a BOSS CL50 half rack Compressor/Limiter/Noisegate. If I need a soft beautiful jazzy tone, I use the CE-2B and the compessor, and when my band does covers like The Trees or Xanadu by RUSH, I use the CE2B into the TS9 into the CL50 to cover the synth lines on my bass. It doesn't sound like a MiniMoog, but it has a good trippy tone to contrast the dry basslines. (P.S. I've also used it on harmony backup vocals while multitracking to great effect!)

All I can say is I've had it (and USED it) since 92, and its still kickin'.

I've never had to deal with BOSS.

Stompboxes are usualy more economical, easy to use versions of expensive rack gear. But this little box is more like one of my secret weapons. What it does for bass, guitar, and even vocals is something most rack units won't do. I have been interested in the CE3B, as it is basicaly the same thing exept that it is stereo instead of mono, and it has a very cool knob when in one direction it only choruses the high end (like the CE2B), and in the other it choruses the entire signal (like a regular chorus), and of course any mix inbetween. I just haven't been rolling in dough lately so I guess the CE3B will have to wait.

3 knobs - even if you don't know what they do, you can try just about everything in 15 minutes

I've used this with a variety of basses and pickups, and it remains consistently solid. I really like it because I don't have to cash to go out and get a real tube amp and a big cab. I just plug my bass into this thing and a Big Muff Pi and then into a Peavy combo. It sounds great for the right songs and makes up for some of the Peavy's shortcomings. I love it for the trebly, eerie sounding parts and anything without a lot of guitar over it. It makes my low output pickups on my fretless sound at least 10 times better. I love the fretless slides with this thing on. Considering I bought it to experiment when I was a young bassist but it still anchors my current setup, I have to rate it highly. I haven't experimented with too many other chorus effects, but I haven't felt the need to.

Same as any Boss. I got an NS-2 that powers all my Boss pedals so I don't spend my paychecks on batteries

Why would I need to?

Since I bought it 4-5 years ago completely uninformed and I still use it today, I'd have to give it a high rating on usefullness. I'd definitely have to get a new chorus pedal of some sort if I lost this one, but I'd probably check the options before I blindly replaced this one. I'd say it's a good poor man's way to add an extra dimension to the bass.

The instructions provided are useful for getting an initial feel of the pedal's capabilities, but the controls are very easy to work out and experiment with.

The sound quality is of the same high standard as with all other BOSS effects. When I play my Jaydee 'Mark King' Supernatural through it, it is easy to achieve excellent, rich sounds and the pedal creates very little noise - even with an active bass.

Rock-solid like every BOSS pedal. The housing is built like a tank and the pedal mechanism has a robust feel. Consider buying the BOSS PSM-5 Master Switch & Power Supply, especially if you also have several other BOSS pedals. Otherwise, use the standard ASA power supply - batteries won't last long, especially if you forget do disconnect your patch leads - like I often do.

Never needed to contact customer support, and don't expect to need to either. My other dealings with the company (catalogue requests etc.) have been okay though.

I bought my CE-2B back in 1993/4 and would definitely replace it with the current CE-3B if it got lost or stolen. There aren't many effects which are particularly useful for bass. I play mostly 'clean' but occasionally want a slightly different sound. The CE-2B provides an excellent chorus sound and is an ideal addition to your bass setup. The pedal is excellent value for money and has built-in BOSS quality.

Very simple. There's a manual, but you don't need it. There are three well labeled knobs: effect level, depth, and rate. It's very easy to customize the sound.

I can't find any noise that it adds, plus it is rather quiet when you stomp it on or off -- no click. You can add some pretty deep dischord to your playing, especially from the E-string, where it produces beats you can feel from a good distance.

It's a Boss. It's built like a brick. And this particular model is colored like one, too. I'd use it without a backup, but have a ton of batteries nearby -- it sucks them up real fast like.

Haven't tried.

I'm cheap -- I had the choice between this one and its successor, the CEB-3. The CEB-3 doesn't give you much more, so I jumped for this one. I'd definately grab it again. It's not a necessity, especially for a bass, but there are many times it adds just what you need (usually when you're just fooling around with friends), but it does give you some new possibilities. Definately worth picking up if you see one cheap.