Boss CE-5 Chorus Ensemble

You may have to read up on what each knob actually does if you're not familiar with a chorus pedal. After I got to understand it all, I was able to hone in on the type of sound that I was looking for.

I love chorus! This pedal sounds very beautiful. I'm using a fender strat, dunlop wah wah, fulltone fulldrive 2, boss ce5, boss dd5, marshall amp. It is not noisy at all. this is one powerful pedal. I can obtain that Police tone that Andy Summers used, or even Rush. This pedal sounds especially great through a clean channel. It thickens the sound. Dist will sound really good on it too- it'll bring back that 80s sound!

Boss is very reliable. Just have alot of batteries with you (since this pedal sounds the best with full power) or get a power adapter for $20.

Never dealt with them.

I'm into that whole 80s tone with the chorus on a clean guitar. I have been playing for 7 years now (being influenced by U2, Police, Satriani, Rush, Hendrix...) and have owned this pedal for almost 2 years. Boss makes some of the greatest pedals around! If it were lost or stolen, I would definitely buy another one. But now Boss has that CE20 out- so I may check that out too.

The manual come with suggested settings that are very helpful to get you started. I recommend you to try the sound of all of them to get you a felling of how the different controls interact with each other. That is, play a tune or two and get you familiar with the effected sound not just hit a G chord and make your mind! I found my self settling for the suggested settings with some minor tweaks to some of them. I belive that to get you started fast you do need the manual has it you may waste time by trial and error just turning the knobs as the trick here is not the individual ocntrols but their interections.

Fender Am Std (kinman Avn Blues pups) ---> Clyde Wah ---> 69' ---> Fuzz ---> BD-2 (boost setting) ---> Classic 50 (Normal Channel) ---> Classic 50 Efx Loop ---> CE-5.

If your amp has an efx loop I recommend you to use it there. Modulation effects usualy requires part of the dry signal to sound best. Ask any recording engineer. If the efx loop of your amp is well designed, it will do just that. Sending only part of the signal to the loop and then mixing it back with part of the dry signal in the ouput stage. But as always there are no rules in terms of finding your sound. I experimented my self using it as an insert effect too, but still found the efx loop to be the best place for it to be a true statement.

I'm not trying to emulate anyone. I settled for the recommended settings (memorized them) and the sound really good for my blues and soft tones. It really dont take me much to turn the knobs now that I memorized my fav settings. I also liked the CE-1 and the Voodoo lab Analog Chorus sound. I settle for this one because it is much more versatil due to the High/Low cut/flat filter. Not noisy in the settings used.

I play what I beging to call Latin Blues. Is basiclly blues and Classic Rock type of progressions play at the tempo of La Clave. Think Tito Puente. Goes something like (Ta) - (Ta) - (Ta) - (Ta Ta).
Carlos Santana incorporates this into his music altough he uses more elements of rock to set the tempo. My favorite guitarist are Hendrix, Clapton, Santana, Vai, EJ, SRV and the guy from Enanitos Verdes (Latin Rockers from Bolivia I think)

Considering Price, Sound, Reliability and Versatility and how it fullfilled my sound I have to give it a 10.

Very easy to use for me anyway, in the manual it gives you plenty of good sounds for this thing, but if you want to tweak the knobs to find a sound that fits you its very simple.

I think the sound quality is very good depending on how you set up your pedals. You have to play with the pedals you put infront or behind it, since it is a modulation effect, it can have a strong affect on how your sound is (don't use with distortion) if you do use (dist)use very little and I mean very little. My setup goes like this. ernie ball volume, (boss) CH-5, DD-5, GE-7, MT-2, DS-1, CS-3, PH-3, Dunlop 535Q wah. I play an Ibanez Js1000wh through a 4x12 cab to an very vintage sounding PA head, soon to be a Mashall or Mesa, vintage, or Rectifier. But delay sounds good with it on clean with some phase and compressor for brightness.

Any pedal will last a long time if you treat it well don't throw it, don't jump on it, if you use your pedals the way they are supposed to be used it will last forever. But boss pedals are very sturdy.

Ive never had to deal with them but im sure they are nice to work with.

overall it is a great pedal it can transform your sound from very thin, to thick crisp sound, and with delay for depth.

Fairly easy. It has 4 and a half nobs. Manuals can be useful.

I use a Les Paul custom, Junior, 52 Telecaster, Ibanez Rg with Dimarzios. I am a vintage pedal collector.I am normall against New effects but when I tried one of these I couldn't resist buying one! This thing sounds dam good but it is quite noisey. It can produce a thick warm chorus sound. Along with this, I have an original Electro Harmonix Small Clone. The Boss is much more versitile but the Small clone is simple and great! Some Assholes think that only girls use these milky, silky gay effects. They can go die because the King of metal Zakk Wylde uses a CE-5 to boost his solos!! And Kurt Cobain used a Small Clone for Smells like teen spirit solo, Come as you are intro... Prople don't unerstand these effects! They sound great with distortion in high sttings but better in low for clean sounds. Can be used VERY subtley.

Well, If you have a power supply, Yes, But don't count on batteries!!
My back up is the small clone, or the CE-5 is the small clone's backup.........

Never tried.

Play everything, Mostle alternative or vintage rock. I have lots of vintage effects. This, along with some zvex, frantone, crother and a boss dd-5 are the only new effects I have. I honestly can't think of anything that can make it better. Compared to my Small Clone, It is not as natural sounding but that has its advantages! If I lose it, I will buy it again.

the controlls are very simple but it is tough to dial up a good sound. if that is at all possible. the high low filter is for crap.

in line with my les paul custom a boss ds-1 and then whatever amp this gives you a very 80's heavy metal sound. it sucks the tone out of about any setup my main amp is a music man hd-150 it is a very soulful and expressive amp ( as is my les paul) and putting this chorus in the rig sounds like i am playing through a computer and not a guitar at all.
it works pretty well with my acustic in chorus output mode.
in stereo output mode the effect is very weak and not very spacious.
in mono mode it is extremly static not weak but it does not add the space that you would expect.
the noise level is non-existant very clean running pedal.

it is a bass these things are indestructable.

they are a big corporation.

if your looking for a very eighties sounding pedal with no soul this one is the one for you it has a really tight sound and with the ds- 1 it is a nice match.
I boght this to replace my boos ce-2 model which wasstolen from me that pedal was great very dark and spacious and versitile. they do not make the ce-2 any more, but i'm going to buy annother ce-2 on e-bay and sell this ce-5.
this pedal does have its applications where it works pretty well like a tool type sound.

I'm not patient enough to sit down and find the good sounds when I buy a new pedal, so I was very happy at how easy this pedal is. There's not really anything that you can't figure out, just twist the knobs to see the different kind of sounds you can get.

Here is the setup that I use:

Gibson Les Paul---->Crybaby Wah---->Boss SD-1---->MXR Phase 90---->Boss CE-5---->Boss DD-5---->Marshall head and cab

The sound that I use most often is my amp overdrive turned up with the SD-1 and CE-5 turned on. If you're a fan of Zakk Wylde's, then this is a great pedal to get his sound (he does use it in his rig). If you use it playing with your amp clean, it will give the sound a huge, rich sound. Like other's have said, if you turn the rate all the way up it gives a great tremolo sound.

I've never had a problem with my Boss pedals and I never expect to.

Never had to deal with them.

If you want a chorus pedal, this is what you should get. It makes your guitar sound huge when used correctly, and it's so easy to use that it should be no problem finding a sound that you like.

Just picked this pedal up used over the weekend. Provides a very lush and musical sounding chorus. Sounds great for a lot of the clean stuff I do and works VERY well with my dirty tone as well. It is very easy to use like most Boss pedals. Your basic chorus options are right there for you: level, rate, and depth. The filter thing seems cool -- but I have not yet formed a solid opinion on how functional it is. By tweaking it a bit I do notice some changes in the overall clarity and transparency of the chorus. Seems like a nice feature to have available.

No manual got it used.

My setup is as follows:

'86 G&L RAMPAGE or a '81 Les Paul Custom >>> VOXWah > IBZ TS-9 > RAT pedal > BOSS CE-5 > BOSS DD-3 > BOSS DD-5 >>> Marshall JCM-900 4100 head going through 2 Marshall 4x12 cabs. No noise...some hum when I have things cranked up a bit but hey that's rock and roll. The effects on this unit ALWAYS sound great. Like most Boss pedal I have used through the years...very very consistent.

My favorite artists are Hendrix, Clapton, SRV, Jimmy Page, Jerry Cantrell, Dimebag Darrell, Joe Pass, Paul Gilbert, Richie Kotzen, etc... The BOSS CE-5 does a GREAT job and hooks me up with the perfect amounts/levels of chorus. Works well with all of my pedals and setup etc...

BOSS = 100% awesome! Would use without backup.

never dealt with them

I play mostly blues/hard rock to metal/hardcore. I mess with some jazz stuff as well. This pedal like I said above really comes through and provides a nice chorus effect that works well across the board. I used to own a few other chorus units. DOD Icebox and a BOSS CH-1 Super chorus. The Icebox was ok but the Super Chorus was really cool. I think I traded up something for it or sold it like an idiot. But the CE-5 ROCKS!!! Glad to have scored it and will be using it going foward.

Pretty self explanatory, but a bit more involved than your standard 2 knob chorus.

THIS is THE chorus pedal to have... especially if you run a stereo rig like me. Sounds great clean or with your favorite fuzz box. I am a pedal junky, and have ALL of the Boss chorus pedals... CE-1, CE-2, CE-3, CH-1, and this. Want to know which one gets the most use??? The CE-5!!! I can get the sounds of all the other ones with this one, plus sounds the others just can't get. Even sounds better than all of the boutiques I have owned or tried. Forget all of the hype about any other chorus pedal... this one is THE BEST!!!

It's a BOSS

HA HA HA!!!

You can buy into the hype of all of the boutiques, vintage units, or the cutsie wootsie looking pedals, but when it comes to the best SOUND the CE-5 is where you should stop.

It's a boss stompbox. It's simple.

This is sweeter and more lush than the Ibanez unit. My ibanez chorus had a bad switch anywhay which is why I bought this is such a hurry.

It's a boss pedal. It's reliable.

In general, Roland gives good support for a price. At least they do have support.

This is great if you need a single chorus pedal. Probably the best of all the the single effect chorus pedals.

Very easy to use, the filters threw me off a bit, but it was no big deal, I am just a moron.

Excellent, pretty much sounds as if two people are playing at once, really gives you a fuller sound. My opinion the best Chorus available. However sometimes it gives me a slight hum which is probably just a bad connection somewhere or the lights make it hum reguardless it is great, so i gave it a 9.
Heres the setup used. Gibson Les Paul -->One of the Boss Delays--> Chorus Ensemble-->Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier head-->Mesa Boogie 4x12 cab with 70 watt Celestions.

Excellent reliability.

Never needed them

The only chorus to buy all others should just be discontinued. In my opinion this is a must for a guitarist, have it on all the time, provides a much more fuller fatter sound.