Boss CE-5 Chorus Ensemble

I don't like a lot of knobs and I don't really like chorus (in a conventional sense) but, why this one works for me is because of how you can set it. And if you didn't have all the knobs then you would be able to use it the way I do.

I'm going to preface this by saying I don't really use chorus. So if you are looking for a true chorus users opinion then skip ahead. Here is what I mostly use - Telecaster>Xotic RC Booster or Maxon Compressor>Xotic AC Booster>Xotic BB Preamp>Boss CE-5>Line6 DL4 or Chandler Digital Echo>1975 Fender ProReverb. I don't know if I have a digital or analog one. I got sometime around 1995 if that tells you anything. Either way I like this pedal. It's quiet and it works for me. I set it to deliver minimal effect. In fact here are the settings that I've been useing live - Effect level 30%, Rate 30%, Depth 75%, High Filter 25%, Bass Filter 40%. If you set it that way you really can hardly tell your using it. It sweeps the bass freqs a little heavier and just add some demension. I just like the enhancement that it adds - Sort of like an envelope filter with the punch taken out of it. It helps get me that wet sound without being obvious. And this is a good pedal for the price with the right amout of contols to get me there. And if I ever really want to turn it up to get a real chorus effect I can. You can get a cool vibrato sound too. But for the most part I keep it down because chorus is cheesy and goofy sounding to me.

Heck, it's ten years old. Still works. Never had a problem. Boss might not make the best sound stuff but they build some of the longest lasting.

N/A

Like I said, I don't really like chorus. But what I like about this pedal is that I can dial it back so much and still have it add something to my tone. If I wanted an old school classic chorus sound I'd probably pull out my old CE-1. But that thing is just a one trick pony and when it is on... It is on! There is no middle ground with it. What is nice about this one is the filter and effect level controls. It's perfect for dialing in the right amount.

This pedal is very easy to use. You're able to get good sound pretty much right away. Just like any other boss pedal, minimum fuss.

I use a multiple amp setup. A Peave 5150 combo for rhytham and lead sounds, and a peavey bandit for clean sounds. My main guitar is a Fender american deluxe fat strat. I use the CE-5 mostly on the clean side. I basically use it for just a warm chorus sound and I find it sounds great. A really rich chorus. I've heard some people say it sounds a bit "processed" but I guess thats the kind of sound I like for clean stuff.

Its a Boss pedal, so its put together pretty good. There is one thing though I've noticed. The footswitch to engage/disengage the effect seems to be intermitant. Sometimes I have to tap it a couple times. This isnt really a big deal for me because I dont really switch it on and off in the middle of songs. I also bought this pedal used off of ebay. Other than that no problems.

I've never dealt with them.

For me this pedal is exactly what I need. I use many different brands of effects so its not like Im just set on Boss. I've been playing close to 15 years and I've owned quite a bit of gear, including other chorus pedals. This is the best chorus pedal I've owned.

OK, this is for the one who gigs in his imagination at work...
I really wanted to love this chorus, so I felt I needed to improve its sound-the reason I realized it was a cheaper version- but I cannot assume what was I didn't like it for: maybe its mechanic whobble, or its discrete noise, not for being digital. In fact I have the G-system that has a great digital version of the SCF chorus, one of the best. I can only think in what Boss is doing for cutting corners and expenses, for example, by using cheap components, and by manufacturing it in... uhm... er.. Taiwan. Don't be surprised if it cannot take you further. At blind test, it is a toy. I am sure the clever design of Boss Compact pedals is wasted--they want you to buy the Twin pedal series crap-- But they can learn a couple of things from manufacturers as Carl Martin ( check the HDb3!)Toadworks and Jaques, who innovate at great prices. I don't give a s**t for a glamorous website. At the end, what counts it is how good they sound. If it makes you feel better, Jallen (all future dittos included), feel free to write me. At least I am not hiding.

5 knobs is a lot of tweaking to do for a chorus pedal in my opinion because it took me awhile to get a good sound out of it, which im not sure ive even done...

OK im not into chorus, the best chorus ive heard is on my little solid-state fender amp that my brother has right now, otherwise id compare it too but I only have the 'dano cool cat' and the 'dano mini milkshake' right now and compared to these pedals this pedal sucks, ive turned the thing all the way up and all the down and it doesnt compare, it sounds digital and fake but only because i compared it to others and if i didnt know any better i would probably pleased with its sound so i give it a 7...

its like any other boss pedal and it does well on a 9volt

i dunno

Im using a fender hotrod deville 212 and a telecaster w/tex-mex pickups and i play anything from old alternative to some modern rock, i like interpol and radiohead and bloc party etc. been playing 10 years and this isnt my pedal thank God but my friends i borrowed just to try out and It is a decent chorus pedal i wont knock it but it lacks warmth and realness or somthing, it has a digital high squeal to it i dont like and besides i hate to tweak really so i like my 2 button knob dano's and this pedal has too many knobs in my opinion but in all reality the only people to tell the difference probably in sound are the players and not the audience...

Very easy to use - dial in some depth and the rate and there you go. I haven't messed with the filter that much because it already sounds good.

Love this pedal, wasn't expecting to. I'm usually not a big fan of digital effects but this pedal sounds really cool. I've owned a small clone a dls chorus vib and this stands right up there. It adds a nice 'curl' to my leads if you know what I mean and it really fattens up my clean sound. No complaints, it's really quiet and produces a nice chorus sound.

boss - built like a tank

don't know

I play indie, surf, classic rock. I play in several bands and need reliable versatile effects - this fits the bill. in case you care, I play a fender deluxe strat through a foxrox zim (awesome pedal btw), pulsar, chorus ensemble, dls echotap into a deluxe reverb amp.

Nice pedal, good price

Easy enough if you've use a chorus before. The filter cut/flat knobs can be a bit confusing, though, for some.

Look, it sounds great and yes I have the digital "new" version. Seriously, who's missing the analog here? Are you all really upset because BOSS made a decision without asking you first? What the hell did you ever do for them?

Yes I can depend on it and I gig in my imagination all the time at work.

They seem to have addressed many of the issues that previous reviewers brought up. Namely, you can get pretty much all of their manuals online and they posted all their contact info.

Again, the new CE-5 has no weapons of mass destruction. It never hurt you. Neither did the Japanese company who made it (in Taiwan). It is just a chorus pedal that changed from analog to digitial and still sounds great. Leave it alone. It rocks.

Esay to use, but hard to get good soudns out of it.

After reding Dan Wiley's review, I wrote to him, thus we realized there are two different CE-5's:The old one, fully analog, and the newer one, completely digital. Mine is digital and it sounds lifeless and sterile. There is the reason so many different reviews. I bought mine around 2002 brand new. I did not like its sounds. Shame on you, Boss!

Reliable; you can trust it will ruin your sounds for many years.

You will never get in touch with Boss. I am sure I shall never buy Boss Again. I'd rather cut my fingers. If I had the option of choosing zero, that would be it, for sure. If you do not believe me, try it!

Shitty sounds, a total delusion. It is not what boss used to be. Rest in peace, Boss!

Easy to get good sounds. The manual also provides good guidance. Still a little confised on what the filter controls do. I keep them at 12 o'clock...seemd to work well for me.

Set up is Les Paul/Tele into CE-5 => Rev Drivetrain => Rat Deucetone into Heritage Patriot amp. This pedal is very quiet. What I wanted most in a chorus effect was transparency. My last chorus was Visual Sound H20 analog chorus. I have to say that the H20 added alot of fat mids/darkness to my tone - even after the bucket brigade chip swap. Very noticeable when I would turn it on. Quite a different story with this pedal - extremely clean with lush, smooth chorus. I also think the vibrato setting is really effective. Overall, a very versatile and high quality pedal. I was turned off of chorus for awhile with the H20 - I'd bring it to gigs and not use it. This pedal has really added to the sonic palette. I think digital is better for choruses and reverbs (uh oh - here come the moans from the vintage enthusiasts!!).

Our band plays all kinds of styles. But, its hard to do the Police, or other eighties/light rock tunes without a chorus. Plus, chorus is a staple effect most guitarists should have, acoustic or electric. I would get this pedal again if it was lost. I did compare this pedal to a CH-1, but this pedal I felt had more width and depth to the sound. More sparkle too. Like I said, when it comes to chorus and reverb, I prefer digital over analog - why? - because digital is more transparent to your original signal. That's my opinion, not a technical fact necessarily. I have an Evans jazz amp with digital reverb on board that is really sweet sounding - better than my Fender spring reverb for sure. Also, the Boss reverb pedal sounds outstanding and its digital. Maybe I'll get that next.

It's hard to get a 'bad' sound out of it, unless you dime everything. For me though, I'm glad they put the various suggested settings in the manual. They really helped me get a lot of different flavors I don't think I would have found on my own and I had them dialed in within an hour. Thanks, Boss.

I use this at the end of a pretty long fx chain: Les Paul with Duncan Antiquities-->535Q Wah-->Arion Tubulator(one of the best overdrive boxes I've ever used btw)-->Marshall Guv'nor plus-->Dano EQ-->Ernie Ball Volume (Jr.)-->Arion Digital Delay-->Voodoo Labs Tremolo-->Boss CE-5-->Traynor YCV80 2x12 or Roland JC 120. Effects are powered by a One Spot power supply for the most part.
I got this after using a so-so DOD Icebox from which you could hear oscillation even when bypassed, a Line6 Tone Core chorus which had the same problem as the DOD in bypass, and when turned on made a whole lot of noise. The Boss is DEAD QUIET!!!
Anyway, over the years I had played around with this and other choruses through the usual shite amps that they plug these into in guitar stores, and had thought that it was O.K.--better than its brother the CH-1(which is too middy, 'tin canny' sounding), the digitech x-series chorus (too cold, and again, tin canny), the Ibanez CS9 reissue (which is too tonally over powering IMO--it took over the sound of the guitar too much). The CE-5 sounded the best of the bunch to me. BUT, it wasn't until I got this puppy home through my rig that I could hear how good this chorus really is!! Call it wish fulfillment, but this thing can produce the types of chorus sounds that I always thought a chorus should--it colors your sound just right, no volume boost or cut, just beautiful "lush" chorus right where it should be in the mix...I really like this beast a lot! It can give me nice variations on a lovely theme. And here's what was a surprise to me, it not only sounds great clean (arpeggios, strumming, comping), it sounds really good with distortion (although it's best after distortion in the signal chain, it sounds good before my Traynor's preamp distortion too)! I thought only my JC 120's chorus sounded good with distortion but now I find I actually like the sound of the two together--something I'd never really experienced save with my JC.
Like I said, this chorus has a distinctive sound which you can tweak for different flavors and uses. Everything from deep, slow swirl to JC 120 vibrato (plus the dimed 'sick' warble--of chorus). It adds a great shimmer and makes the sound, for lack of a better term, more juicy or lush. You can get really nice Andy Summers style chorus tone with this pedal--heck,I can even do a passable faux acoustic for rhythm with my Les Paul (well, if you're not toooo picky).
Anyways, this chorus has actually made me realize why chorus has been so popular throughout the years and become such a staple among fx. I had become pretty bored and jaded with chorus--even with my JC 120's, and that's supposed to be the ultimate chorus experience--but now, I actually WANT to turn the CE-5 on and hear the great sounds it gives.
This a flexible pedal and a great addition to my chain. I think it's found a home for quite a while on my board.

Haven't had it that long. But Boss has a good track record.

I've dealt with Roland in the past and the people were polite, professional and helpful

I play a plethora of styles since I play mostly these days for praise and worship at church, which means I have to cover a lot of different styles/sounds--from Hard Rock/almost metal to country gospel to schmaltzy "lounge cheeze"--the U2 type sound is pretty big in contemporary church music too (that's why the extended pedal board, although I've seen busier ones). In this context, chorus is a must have for the slow numbers especially--I try not to over do it, but what are you gonna do when your playing a Les Paul and your band has no acoustic guitarist? And this particular chorus is a great, fresh sounding one which is very musical and pleasing to me.

it's quite easy to get a good sound out of this. It gives you pretty much whatever tools you could need.
The manual's pretty basic, really just tells you what the knobs do, and if you've ever worked with a chorus in the past you know it's pretty much self-explanatory anyways. It gives some ok sample settings; one of my favorites is based pretty closely on one of them.

My usual setup is as follows, give or take certain pedals at times: '79 Strat->CE-5Chorus Ensemble->MT-2 Metal Zone->AW-3 Dynamic Wah->Fender Deluxe.
My setup clean is about as quiet as a Strat gets without some tone-sucking noise reducer. The Metal Zone of course is noisy as hell, but I don't really care much about noise in case you can't tell - that may be why I bought the metal zone instead of some other high-gain device that somehow doesn't make noise. The other pedals don't make much noise at all, unless you count this occasional flange-like sound that the CE-5 makes [which actually can sound pretty cool].
Regardless, noise isn't what we buy effects for, it's for what they sound like! And yes, indeed, this thing sounds goood. It's a very full sound, and it sounds great clean or distorted. Obviously I don't use it with the envelope filter at the same time, but come to think of it that could be kind of cool to try...
You can very easily get a very deep-sounding vintage chorus, or practically a vibrato, or pretty much anywhere in between.
The filter knobs definitely allow for some better tone sculpting. When I play with the Metal Zone on, I cut the low end of the chorus a bit, because this thing can add some serious chunk to power chords. When you use it for solos it just sounds awesome, it adds a lot of chunk and just overall makes your sound much livelier and more noticeable than just with a massive amount of distortion by itself.

It's a Boss, man...it could survive a nuclear holocaust.

I play a lot of different things, from jazz and blues to thrash metal. this thing works very well for literally any form of chorus sound you could need. I've gotten sounds like those on the Chili Peppers' Freaky Styley album [one of my favorite albums of all time], not to mention a good jazz sound and some much trippier stuff. I'm sure I'll find plenty more uses for it along the way.