Boss CE-2B Bass Chorus

This is easy to use. With most properly designed pedals, setting all the knobs as 12 oclock is a good starting point - this one is no exception and set that way is a great chorus sound.

Having both effect level and depth as two separate controls is perhaps a bit confusing but you soon get the hang of it.

This pedal is equally suited to bass and guitar. It has everything that the CE-2 has plus and effect level control to blend direct and effect together - so no reason why it is bass-guitar specific at all!

The only problem I have had with it is using an external 9V supply the juice is not enough to light the LED (still sounds OK) - this is a problem with early Japan Boss pedals, they dropped the voltage on the DC input with a resistor so it works fine on a 9V battery but may be tricky on 9V external input. As I said it works OK sound wise but with a very dim led. There is a mod you can do to remove the led I think - or use a 12V PSU.

I think this chorus is very clean and transparent sounding. It is not noisy and does the job perfectly. It is basically the same circuit as a CE-2 which is one of the best chorus pedals around as the reviews here show. I found these two schematics on the web and the CE-2B just seems to have an added Effect Level control and the rest is the same:

http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/boss/BossCE-2B.gif

http://www.generalguitargadgets.com/boss/BossCE-2.gif

Turning back the effect level seems to let more of the unaffected signal through - I think this is how you can blend plenty of straight bass with the effected sound and get plenty of fundamental solid bass through.

Whatever - it is a totally top notch analog chorus sound. I like to use it on a slow setting, with the effect level and depth wound back so the whole thing is a subtle fattening of the tone - you can't put your finger on it and call it chorus when you hear it set like this but it does transform the guitar sound in an interesting way.

It will go fairly deep too, but dimed chorus is firmly stuck in the 80's for me.

This is a Japanese pedal, 20+ years old and good for another 20 easy.

A bargain - Japan CE-2 pedals sell for big bucks these days - this is basically the same thing with an extra knob to blend the effect and I got it cheap.

Its a great analog chorus pedal - I recommend it.

Super easy, its great on batteries, under a 10 milliamp draw so it last forever, but recently ive been using it with an adaptor. 3 knobs, rate, Elevel, depth, pretty simple.

pretty much impossible to get a "bad" sound" out of this. i can see why other pedals are prefered, but for what this does it does it pretty damn well. doesnt make excessive noise, sounds damn wicked. doesnt suck any of your instruments tone out, just adds a great sounding chorus. could stand to be a little bit "deeper", but these are great sounding analog pedals from the 80s so cant really ask for more

mines olllllld. made in japan. bought it at a hock shop for $50. probably as old as me, from the mid 80s. the paint is being dinged off from old price tag stickers and such going on and off of it, but still sounds wicked. im missing the rate knob on mine, but it still works fine.its a boss.

never dealt with them

this thing was a steal when i bough it, if you see one grab it. Made in japan, great pedal, realy adds alot of depth to your bass palying.

excellant sounding an easy to find a good sound ,no manual was lucky to buy it from a friend who bought it 10 years a go used,the unit seems to be all stock

im using a ampeg svt av reissue tube monster with a yorkville 8x8 cabinet with a amercian series jazz bass ,i find the sound actually quiet for a pedal ,ive played for 20 years an never used chorus till i tried this pedal ,tried different other ones wasnt happy till this pedal .very nice an doesnt effect your original tone of your amp just makes it better .it made an awsome sounding rig to a amazing sounding rig

ive heard nothing but good things about boss pedals ,i will use it with out a back up ,im very happy with the sound ,i never though id find a good chorus till this one i tried wow amazing

never had to use customer service ,with a pedal this solid im sure they would be there if needed

i play new an classic hard rock ,over 20 years playin ,i run an svt with a 8x8 yorkville cabinet with fender jazz bass ,no other gear except chorus pedal ,if stolen i would replace this pedal ,ive tried zoom dod ross various different racks wasnt happy ,i chose this one because my friend said try it out he had it for years .a jazz bass through a svt is pretty hard to beat an this chorus pedal ce-2b makes it sound amazing .nice full an pronouced sound ,it makes me play more on the edge more confident, if you sound better you push your self more ....

THis peddal has easy to use. Three nobes which are/ Depth, Effect, and rate.

Through an amp with distortion like a crate. pure SH*1!!!!
With a nice clean amp like my practice amp it has a nice chourus effect.
I could compare it to a zoom pedal but those are not pedals.( They just cover your sound)
The sound is a little too weak but its ok. I can achieve my own sound with this.

I havent had this pedal very long but for now it stil works good. IF is craped out in a gig i would just go on with out it.

none

I Play funk, rock, and blues. This works well in all. I;ve been playing for five years. I like that it chourus.
I dont care for this pedal that much

Not much to say here... 3 knobs: rate, effect level and depth.

This thing is really good sounding, comparing it to some other bass choruses that I've heard (ZOOM 506's chorus, and Ibanez). It gives you that really deep sounding 3D chorus sound. I've also tried some guitar choruses, but they are all oscillating in mid frequencies, so you get, like, cheap radio sounding chorus. You can totaly get TOOL sound with it.
My setup is: Yamaha BBN4 III (2 passive humbuckers) -> Fender chromatic tuner -> parametic EQ -> BOSS HM-2 distortion -> BOSS CE-2B -> BOSS Delay Machine analog delay -> 100W Acustic amp. This chorus + Delay gives you GREATEST 3D sound you can imagine. Crowd is usually shocked with the sound on our gigs, since people usually don't expect from bass guitar to sound like that.
Only complaint is that it's to weak for me... sometimes I just need more chorus added, but the level pot is all away to the max... Offcourse, it depends on what kind of sound you wont. I like more psychedelic, with less dry signal, and more chorus, but lot of other people that I've gave this pedal to didn't have such problems. So I guess it's me than :))).
I didn't have chance to compare it to CEB-3 (which is probably much better than this one), but I didn't have much choice, since this was the only bass chorus in my city...

Well, haven't heard so far that anyone had problems with BOSS pedals in term of reliability, so I gues it's the same with this pedal. I take care of all my pedals, and so far I dodn't have any problems with it.

I play mostly hardcore/emo/punk. I play bass for 7 years now. I've bought this unit only becayse I didn't have much choice (only ZOOM 506 processor). I would rather go for the new on (CEB-3). For me, this thing only lacks intensity, and one more knob for frequency.

Super Simple.

Great. Specifically for "bass chorus" a "9 of 10". Nice sound. Mine is a mid/late '80s "Japanese" model.

Very reliable. Aren't all Boss pedals....(mostly?). They're built like tanks.

Never had to. Probably never will have to. I give them a "10" for never having to answer the phones (like the lonely MAYTAG REPAIRMAN GUY) because they are so durable.

I give it a "9". Great pedal for all styles. Does not rob your tone and does not sound "artificial" like most effects. Do not expect crystal clear digital, but most people will like this unit. A great pedal by BOSS.

This pedal is very easy to figure out, it would be nice if there were factory presets but still anyone can use it.

I loved the sound of this pedal. I was looking for a killer corus and i found it. It ranges from funly real high rate attack to a smooth soft tone, sounds all natural nothing like ordinary cheap pedals.

I am still using this pedal with my board of effects, i havnt had the slightest problem yet.

These guys are scared to death of there being the smallest problem with anything they manufacture, they will do anything to make you the happiest customer in the world.

I just love it, sorry not to gloat.

The CE-2B is a chorus designed for bass. 3 controls rate,depth and wet/dry mix. Easy to get a good sound. There is also a trim pot on the circuit board which you can tweak to enhance the sound to your personal taste.

The CE-2B is a very useful pedal to enhance your bass tone. I found by tweaking the internal trimpot on the circuit board that it made a dramatic change in the smoothness and quality of the tone. It has a wet/dry mix and this helps to maintain your bottom and adding just the amount you want. I have a early issue CE-2(chrome screw) and a reissue Smallstone and find the CE-2B to be best for bass. It sounds great on fretless bass. It is very quiet and I run it direct into my Eden amp or thru the effects loop.

This is from the late 80's and it works great. Boss pedal's design has been tested by more musicians than anyone else

Never dealt with Boss/Roland.

This is an under rated pedal, if you can find one used grab it.I feel the best type of effect that Boss makes is chorus. I don't like many of their other pedals but this one is very musical and adds to your tone. And works great with bass.

This is an analog mono bass chorus with three rotary knobs and a foot switch pad. The knobs control effect level, rate and depth. Very easy to use and very effective. There is no flanger or ring modulator as on some other chorus pedals. The rate knob is a little hard to grab quickly since it is so close to the switch pad. Also the knobs are a little sticky, but that is more due to it's age.

I have used the TC Electronics chorus pedal, and the Electro-harmonix small clone re-issue. I have also tried the EBS Unichorus and the EH Stereo chorus, and the BOSS CEB-3. This beats them all. The chorus is moderate even at the most extreme settings, which is fine for me. What I really like about it is that 1) it leaves the low freqs alone for tighter bass, and 2) it doesn't have a hint of metallic sound. In fact I would describe this chorus as rather dark. The other chorus's I considered were either way over the top, e.g. EH Stereo Chorus, or tend to add a brightness to the sound. I like my low mids, and this thing keeps them there, while the others bury them.

This gets a eight because in general I am very critical of chorus, and I still think there better chorus's such as the TC 2290 rack chorus/delay, for about $2000.00. But this is the best of the pedal variety.

Old pedal, but still a BOSS. BOSS's have a well deserved reputation for durability. If this thing died, I would definitely go look for another one.

never needed support

This is an excellent chorus for bass. I recommend it over some very expensive chorus's I've tried. I would definitely recommend it over the new BOSS bass chorus, which in my opinion is CRAP!!. This is analog, which means warm, dark chorus. It is not as much an effect as EH small clone, nor as pretty as the TC, but it fits in beautifully with the rest of my stuff. Sounds great with delay, and/or distortion. This is a bargain, look for it.

nice 4 knobs very easy

grat nice rich chorus if u turn up the knobs all the way very cool sound

great boss pedals r tanks

awsome

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.