Boss CE-5 Chorus Ensemble

EFFECT LEVEL, RATE, DEPTH, FILTER. Pretty simple, could be difficult at first but you can play around with it. It won't take long at all before you get it.

But the knobs are a little small so you have to have everything preset, don't be touching things when you're on stage with it, casue thats gunna be difficult.

SG>>Fender Blues Deluxe
(I use my effect send and return on my amp for the effects) AS far as singal chain goes. Simple.
Boss- OS-2>>Boss CE-5, Bodd DD-6>>Dunlop Original Crybaby.
Don't ask about my choice in pedals. I've made some bad decisions.

This pedal would be an OKAY choice. Not the warmest chorus out there. For it's price, I excepted more. A cheaper one, EHX Small Clone for example, would be a better choice.

The vertaslity on this pedal is very limited. The depth doesn't go too far, except the rate. You can get almost a vibrato sound with the chorus. Like a modulation tremolo, but muddy sound quality. This pedal, like other boss pedals, doesn't take things over the top. It's only a light chorus, you can't even tell the chorus is on until things hit around 12 o'clock.

There although is one setting I love, which gives me a vintage, warmish, chorus.

Don't except a beautiful, WOW, chorus whenyou get this pedal, just DESCENT.

Although, the cool feature on this pedal is the Ffilters. This knob controls the

Boss pedal= TANK!

I can live it for now, but I regret buying it, I would have gotten something else.

But don't get me wrong, this pedal is WORKABLE.

this pedal either works or doesn't work for you, depending on what type of sound you're after. It is extremely clean, somewhat buttery, smooth. It doesn't sound complicated or very lush. Great for rhythm, limited for lead I would think. If it's the sound for you, the setup is easy. If it's not, no amount of tweaking gets you there.

I've been testing my new pedals on "the bench" before commiting to keep them. The boss pedals I have are far, far cleaner than the digitech lines. Zero detectable noise on the ce-5, even engaged. OTOH, it's so clean that you can actually hear it "working," you can tell it's sampling the sound and oscillating its playback because the tones are so accurate... which was not what I was looking for.

boss...

Compared to digitech CF-7.

Digitech was noisy. CE-5 was quiet.

Digitech made it a lot easier to find the chorus I wanted, a mild lush chorus for lead saxophone work; the CE-5 just couldn't get there.

Plug in and go. Level, rate, depth, and the EQ filter are all easy to understand and use. It's not hard to get what you're looking for out of this pedal. The stereo out option is a nice feature. Boss pedals aren't true bypass, but they aren't too bad when it comes to tone-sucking.

As others have said, this is a vey subtle chorus effect, even with the effect level all the way up. It is a pleasing effect, although not the warmest chorus you'll hear. It's definitely a digital effect. It sounds equally good clean or overdriven; my favorite application is using this for solos - it gives the overdriven lead lines a little more power. I almost always run this through the effects loop in my Peavey Ranger 212. It sounds fine out front if you don't have an effects loop, but it's preferable to place it in a loop.

There is one problem with hum on this pedal. My pedal hums like crazy if you use any adapter besides the Danelectro ones that say "zero hum" on the box. Boss adapters don't kill the hum, and neither does any other kind of adapter I've used. The Dano one, at least in my case, is the only thing that keeps it quiet. With that adapter, it's silent.

I've had this for ten years. Boss pedals are made to last.

They answer their email.

I like this pedal, but since I don't use effects all that much, there really isn't a reason for me to replace it, even if I were to lose it. If I had to replace it, I would probably go with something like the Small Clone for a warmer sound. But come to think of it, I've got the MXR flanger, and that can put out a great chorus-style sound. Anyway, this is a constant in my effects loop, and I'm happy with it. If you're not looking for a crazy effect, then this might work well for you.

Not very complex to use, just plug it in. It??s possible to have stereo output - one dry, one effected, but I always go mono. At first it appears fiddly, with the high and low cut knob, but I don??t screw with that much as the basic sound of the pedal is what I want. A definite advantage is the ??mix?? knob which allows you to dial in just the right level of effect,which really helps to keep things subtle, as chorus can be such an overpowering effect.

To my ear, this pedal delivers the sound of a slow rotating speaker. It??s transparent(for a chorus pedal!),which is why I chose it - the sound is not too thick. I play rock on a strat and have found the pedal useful for these tunes:
The chordal riff in ??Sultans of Swing??.
The last few bars of the intro of ??Little Wing??(that nice bit where he slides into the chords).
Any Police tune(bridge pickup with a bit of gain).
There are many other tunes which I don??t play live that this pedal is useful for, eg. ??Waiting on a Friend?? by the Stones. Also, Cream??s ??Badge??.

I have confidence in this product. I??ve had it a couple of years, and it hasn??t let me down. Besides, I can??t afford to buy two of them!

I??ve never dealt with them.

I play ??Classic Rock??- Hendrix, Clapton and so on. I may seem uncritical of this product, but I like it, and that??s why I bought it! It can give the full slow rotating speaker sound, or a very subtle shimmer. Works well with or without distortion. It??s a flexible pedal, which is so important for a chorus effect. Let??s face it, chorus is almost like a disease - too much of it, and everybody sounds the same! I like Boss pedals and own a bunch of them, and this one has been very useful to me.

4 knobs.......

I started listening to early Pretenders and the Police again in honor of their reunion (great Bands) and decided i needed to run out and buy a chorus pedal. I haven;t used the effect in 15 years and like most guitar players i know, am impatient and impulsive with gear purchases. Anyway, My local Sam Ash carried exactly three chorus pedals. The digitech x factor multi chorus, boss super chorus and ce 5 ensemble. Of the three, the digitech sounded best (and was the cheapest)so, of course they were out of stock. Knowing i had to immediately have the chorus pedal or i may die, i chose the ce 5 . Here's my thoughts... I play strats,teles, and les pauls into a variety of fender tube amps. The ce 5 is a very subtle effect for a chorus. It doesn,t do the warbly or vibrato type sounds most look for in a chorus. It primarily " sweetens" chords a bit and adds a thin, high end digital "sheen" when strumming. not necessarily a bad pedal, but it won;t give a fat warm sound either. If your'e looking to add a little "sparkle" to your chord work (think a live eagles type of sound) it;s fine. If your'e looking for the sounds of couldn;t stand the weather, badge- (live,) teen spirit,etc...shop around a little more. Used with a Boss dd-6 delay and playing along with zenyatta mondatta (or whatever the hell it's called) i found the sound just o.k....and a little thin sounding. Hope this helps...

Boss pedals are usually very reliable

I play a little of everything, and have been playing for 25 years. If this chorus was stolen, I doubt i'd replace it. It;s not a terrible pedal, just adequate that;s all. Considering the price and competion, there are better chorus pedals on the market in the same price range.

pretty damn easy to use. not to crazy about the added hi/lo cut knob, kinda found it to be useless.

its a decent chorus for the money. i have heard some guitarist use them and they sound great, but to me it just wasen't working. used mine for 4 years then switch to an older ce-2 model that i have had modded by robert keeley. much better sounding then the ce-5.
the ce-5 sounds lifeless and sterile to me. it doesn't have that nice smooth chorus sound that im after.

its a Boss! these things are like little tanks. they only surviving things after a nuclear war would be cockroches and Boss pedals.

i wouldnt know.

Like I said, its a decent chorus for the money. But if your after that nice lush chorus sound, then try something more along the lines of the MXR Stereo Chorus or the Voodoo Lab Analog Chorus... or a Keeley modded ce-2

If you're already familiar with the typical chorus pedal, you'll have no problems. The Filter section is like a tone control with extra fine tuning capabilities. Takes a little getting used to, but after five or ten minutes of twiddling it's a piece of cake.

This pedal is a Boss through and through: the very clean, hi-fi chorusing Boss is known for comes through at practically any setting. I used a CH-1 Super Chorus for many years and I can hear a lot of similarities between the two. Where the Chorus Ensemble differs from the CH-1 is in the filter control, which kind of "sets the mood" for the whole effect. Cut the highs and you can get a very convincing analog chorus tone. Boost the highs and you get a more modern shimmer.

I AB'd this with my semi-trusty EH Small Clone. The Chorus Ensemble was able to cop some of the gooiness that the EH is known for with the Low control turned fully clockwise and the High control backed off to 1 o'clock (Depth and Effect Level were set at 3 o'clock), though it required rolling off some of the tone at the guitar with the neck pickup on to do it. Still, it did a convincing imitation with the rate set at 1 o'clock or below. The EH sounds deeper and more organic overall and higher rate settings are a bit more and usable and smoother than the Chorus Ensemble, but the Chorus Ensemble is clearly a pedal that has a lot more range...and considering the overall reliability of my Small Clone has been less than stellar, even under light use, the Chorus Ensemble is the pedal I'd be using on stage.

When not trying to sound analog, the CE is very spacious and clean, with a nice 3-D depth. Even with the Effect Level and Depth set to max it doesn't overpower your tone, though I wish it was a lot more assertive at settings like this. Bonus: it played well with every dirtbox I threw at it: a Big Muff USA RI, DS-1, SD-1, TS-9, Ibanez fuzz, old Boss Turbo Overdrive...it really thickens up distorted and overdriven tones and you can't put just about anywhere in your signal chain. My Small Clone is a lot pickier about what it gets paired up with and where it is.

I've never had a Boss pedal fail on me.

Haven't crossed this bridge yet.

I play a little bit of everything, but my bread and butter is classic rock, britpop, oldschool country and noisy stuff. I've been playing almost 20 years. I play lots of Fender guitars and Vox amps.

I love the simple tweakability of this pedal. If you're someone who wants to be able to dial in a handful of good chorus tones on one pedal, this is a great piece of gear. The Filter control is the heart and soul of it. I can get a very close approximation of a Small Clone and I can get the classic Boss chorus tone. I find the best way to open this pedal up is to set the Effect Level, Rate and Depth about where you want it, and then play around with the Filter control. Once you get the filter set where you want it, you can go back and fine tune the other controls. I find I can go between fat and shimmery with just a quick adjustment of the Filter control or even just switching pickups.

I wish it were a bit warmer and a bit more assertive when set to higher depth and effect level settings, but overall I don't think these are major shortcomings. I have a pretty bright rig to begin with, and this pedal works with what you feed it. I love my Small Clone, but that thing is tempermental to the point of being unusable at times. I really like the fact that I can get close enough for government work with the Chorus Ensemble, because at least I know it's not going to konk out on me at a show and reliability counts for a lot on stage. I rate this a 9 overall because for $80 USD new it's not bad, but if you can find one used for $60 USD or less, it's a steal IMO.

This was my first pedal (we're talking 1994 or so), and it had a bit of a learning curve for me. The suggested settings in the manual helped a lot (until I lost it).

It's got four five knobs: E. Level (how hot is the effect compared to the original guitar sound), Rate, Depth, and a knob-on-top-of-a-knob Filter (High and Low EQ). Fiddling with the Rate and Depth are the key to understanding this stompbox. Dial too high on the Rate & Depth (together) and you've got some nasty sounds. Mix and match them for a right variety of sounds. The E. Level will determine how subtle the chorus sound is.

I've only rarely used the stereo feature. Usually I don't have two amps to work with in any given setting. But now that I'm recording more, I'm planning on experimenting with it.

My main setup is an Epiphone Les Paul Deluxe into a Sansamp GT2>Boss DS-1 Distortion>Boss SD-1 Overdrive>Boss TR-2 Tremelo>CE-5 either into my Peavy Transtube Studiopro 112 amp (for home practice), my Tascam 2488 (for recording), or Direct into the PA. I play a bit of rock (though I go for a more mellow sound in general), folk, and worship music.

I really like the sound of this chorus. I've had it for 12 years now (it was my first stompbox). I originally bought it because it was cheaper than the Superchorus, and everyone told me that Boss makes the best choruses. Years later, I've come to the conclusion the CE-5 is a better sounding chorus. It's subtle enough to not sound cheezy, but it'll thicken up your sound nonetheless.

It puts out a bit of static when engaged, but not an unreasonable amount. As the battery gets low, the chorused signal dies. When the battery is near the end of its life, you can barely tell the unit is engaged. But the LED will fade to let you know it's time to change the battery.

This has been a main workhorse for my setup for essentially all of my guitar-playing years. It's never failed me (unless I've let the battery die). I've never had to get it serviced. Heck, it's a Boss. They're little tanks.

I regularly take this to a gig with no backup.

Never had to deal with Boss. Never expect to.

I've used this stompbox in both electric and acoustic settings, and it works well. My soundman never complains about it. It's subtle and smooth. While chorus isn't essential to what I do, it's nice to have a good, reliable unit. It was my first stompbox, and I expect to use it for life.

Controls - level (wet/dry mix, kind of), rate depth and treble/bass (the eq works on the effect part of the signal only). Understanding the interaction between the controls is the key to making this pedal work. The trick is in the eq settings - as the treble is increased the effect becomes more pronounced. The scope given by the controls is a strength and a weakness - it's at least as easy to find bad settings as good ones.

Mine dates from the early 90s. As it's got the "Class B Digital Device" bit on the label I guess it's digital, though it doesn't sound stereotypically "digital" - it's not harsh, grainy or clouded by noticeable digital artifacts (unlike the Boss GTx series and the current phaser/flanger). It can handle very high input signals (including 2v+ from a synth) with no digital clipping. It also lacks the "processed" tone lots of Boss gear suffers from.

When off it's off, and the Boss high-impedence buffered circuit ensures no noticeable interference with the guitar tone and can reduce/eliminate tone sucking by anything after it in the fx run (and even put an end to the oscillation caused by vintage Small Stones when they're supposed to be off?!?).

It took me quite a while to get my head around getting the best from the CE5. First off, it sounds better into valves than transistors - much smoother. Fender or Marshall amps both work fine with it. There's a huge range of sounds available, from a decent if polite vibrato (level and rate high, depth low and treble reduced) to discreet thickening and 12-stringish tones entering flanger territory (think Andy Summers) plus an uncanny ability to sound like there's another guitarist who's almost playing the same notes as you. The sample settings are a good place to start but it does take some tweaking to suit your amp/guitar/playing before you hit the sweet spots.

I use chorus lots, both as a subtle thickening of lead lines and as a more noticable effect and this does both very well. With a bit of persistence the CE5 can be used to cover alot of bases. What it's least good at are the kinds of wallowing grungy chorus the Small Clone excels at.

I don't find the stereo function useful as I usually only gig with one amp. I have used it a few times and it works exactly as advertised.

Had it for years, it's never failed me yet. I have had Boss stuff die on me but not often. All my gear is gigged frequently, but I have a policy of not jumping on it, throwing up on it, pouring beer on it and generally avoiding doing all the other things electronics don't enjoy. I find it helps to keep costs down and profits up.

I find I usually don't like digital stuff (except delays - the ability to tap the tempo in as required is pretty essential for me), but the CE5 is an exception. It can do a wide range of things, some of which are useful and some awful (unless you like seriously de-tuned warbling chords out of tune with itself as well as everyone else).

A better "manual" would help - e.g. explaining that the prominence of the chorus isn't just altered by the level control but can be radically altered by the eq as well, rather than the typical Roland/Boss "level - adjusts the level of the effect"...

A final thought - it isn't too bad a battery-eater but for consistent performance is best run off a regulated 9v supply.

Too many parameters for a chorus, but not rock-it science. This pedal was made in probably 2002 and has FJ07936 on the red label.

We'll get to my low scores..
Strat hwy 1/Electra Phoenix> Ibanez tube screamer>Boss noise suppresser>Ibanez flanger>Ibanez delay> Dunlop cry-baby> Boss stage tuner> Randall RG100SC 212 amp>Randall 212 cabinet.
When I first got the effect it was to replace my coveted Boss CE-2 ( 1982 black label Japan) that quit after 13 years of loving abuse. This CE-5 pedal worked for two days and sounded nothing like a Boss chorus. It was cheap, transparant and too subtle. 2 weeks later it crapped out and the store I bought it from closed, dogs and cats moved in with each other and I realizede Barry Manilow wrote all the commercial jingles that were in my head....sorry...

this one- NO

No help..plus I lost my receipt.

I play blues/metal/progressive, been at it since 1979.
I play a 2006 Fender HWY 1 Strat, Electra Phoenix x150, Carvin Ultr-V, Aria Pro-II Hollw Body, Kramer Striker, Ibanez acoustic and Sigma -Martin acoustic. I have vintage Ibanez pedals ( except for my Turbo- Tube), newer Boss noise and tuner and vintage HM-2, a Zoom 1010, Dunlop Cry-baby and a busted Boss CE-2. Amps are Randall and Peavey wqith a teeny Fender frontman..
I wouldn't buy another one bur I will get another CE-2 on Ebay ( one day).
I used to beleive Boss was the ultimate power in this solar system but the rebels blew them up around 1995. May the farce be with you.

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.

very easy to use. not a problem at all. unless your noobish.

im ruuning this in this setup.
guitar>JH-1>CE-5>amp
not noisy at all. actually it seems to stop unwanted nnoise from guitar and feedback from the JH-1. the effects you can get aree awesome. if you turn the knobs all the way round clockwise you can get a amazing cool honky tonk keyboard fairground effect. and this with the dist or od sounds even better. its awesome. make dist and od sound v.cool and metallic.

only bought it toady so i woundlt know but solid metal so cant go wrong.

never dealt. so i dont know.

its cool man. get one if you like chorus effect. you can also get an effect like the effect in the intro and verso to freak on a leash by korn. would def. buy another if it broke. it rules

Very easy to get a good sound out of it if you know anything at all about effects and audio. It takes a little tweaking to get the exact filtration that you want, but I like the versatility of having that as an option.

I am using this with a Schecter C1+ (Duncan Distortion bridge) and an all-tube Crate VFX5112. Other stuff in the signal chain: Boss DD-3, MT-2, and sometimes MXR Phase 100. I've been playing for 18 years, and I always carefully evaluate my gear and sounds. This makes the cut.

I LOVE THIS CHORUS. This is the chorus sound I've always wanted. It's warm and "modern" sounding, I guess. It's very good for swelling out a sound like clean arpeggios, and it doesn't destroy your distortion, though it really doesn't do a doubling sound with distortion, more like it adds a subtle fatness. Very importantly: my guitar still sounds like my guitar. There is no flattening of the bass or mids.

Other stuff I tried in the "Quest for Chorus": Maxon CS-9 Pro: That was warmer, but it never really sounded much like a chorus! More like a doubler. MXR M-134: Much more warm and present than the Maxon, BUT you couldn't turn it up too far, or it did that STUPID Leslie thing where the volume fades. (No offense if you use a Leslie or a Leslie simulator: have a good time with it...what I mean is that it's stupid to think you're buying a CHORUS and then have it act like a Leslie.) Also tried the Digitech X-Series Chorus. When I stopped laughing, I tried the reissue Ibanez CS-9: much thicker than the Maxon, but also kind of muddy. Finally, I tried the Boss CH-1, which has more presence than the CE-5, but a lot less depth to the sound. I did my homework, and settled on this.

Fair Warning: This pedal is DIGITAL. If you read the manual, it says so; there's a disclaimer of compliance with European standards for digital signal processing. HOWEVER...it doesn't sound digital (I used to own a Line 6 Spider 112, I have also a Digitech RP50 for practicing late at night, and I also have the built-in effects in Cakewalk Guitar Tracks 3.) I KNOW what lame digital choruses sound like, and I know what fairly high-end analog choruses sound like. This is WARM, and it feels GREAT.

I know that there are certain things that should NEVER be digital (distortion, mostly, and also in my experience, phasers) and some things that are fine (reverb, delay). I used to think I had to have an analog chorus. Then I got this. Problem solved! It's a lot cheaper, too! And remember, if you're going to CD...it's ALL digital sooner or later....

It's a BOSS. Five-year warranty!

Never dealt with them. I hate that you can't register online without selecting a stupid "free" magazine offer. I send in the cards instead...hey Roland Corp, you do realize that the Return Postage Costs you money that you would have saved if I just filled it out online....hello, is this thing on? Thonk, thonk, test, one-two....

I play rock, and metal with some punk thrown in. I love Zeppelin, AC/DC, The Who, some G'N'R (if you turn the vocals down...) and this is perfect for what I want. If I lost this, I'd go and buy one the same day. I don't say that about any of my other pedals. This is essential to me. I love it. It doesn't distort with my butt-kicking (ahem, "high-output") humbucker, even though the manual says it can happen. (My guitar will overload MXR Phase 90s, Ibanez PT-9s, etc.)
This obviously helps me make music. It sounds better and is more versatile than anything else I've tried.

It sounds very clean, very clear, and it doesn't kill your tone. I looked for YEARS to find the right bridge humbucker, and if anything interferes with my tone, I remove it. (See my review of the Boss PH-3, which I thought was terrible.) In short: I can't believe this is so good for so little money. I love the looks of Boss stuff, and the reliability. (MXR pedals are UGLY and I HATE the switches...) I love the sound of this pedal, it's now ESSENTIAL for me, and I don't say that about very many things. Maybe this isn't what you want, you should always try out different things. But this is the sound I wanted.

This pedal is vert easy to use,the manual gives you some idea of how to use it and some sound examples and what each knob does,it's good enough because the pedal alone is easy to work but tons of pages an a manual is off-putting for some people like me anyway.

My setup is a Fender Strat -> Bigg Muff by EHX -> The Whammy by Digitech -> The Weapon by Digitech -> Boss Wah V-10 -> Boss Chorus -> Marshall amp. The Boss chorus is fairly quiet. The more Rate you put then you can hear a fuzzy vibrato from the amp.The chorus effects are warming to your sound and cancell out that cold mettalic sound, the sounds are very natural and haven't got any roboticness about it, it's EXCELLENT FOR KORN SOUNDS as it's the very pedal they use. you can get the chime replica from falling away from me,all in the family verse parts and for it's on nd freak on a leash you can get a similar flange sound like the electric mistress and vibrato.it's nice for song like the zephyr song by the red hot chili peppers because its warming and has that type of sound.

Yes this Pedal is very reliable, you could set 50 rock weilers on it and it would still be in one piece and i wouldn't find it neccesary to use a backup when gigging.

I play mostly korn and red hot chili peppers and its good for both.ive been playing for over a year and have been into fx pedals since i started and im quite hooked on them.Yes if it were lost or stolen i would by another one.My favourite feature is the chime sound and flange effect but the only thing im not keen on is the design, it's not the nicest looking pedal ive got but i supose its whats on the inside that matters like the sound etc.I compared this with the electric mistress flanger but i prefered this one because this sounds more natural and it's way cheaper.

My first chorus pedal, and it is dead simple. Within 5 minutes I had tweaked the sound to a nice wet warble and was having a ball.

this is my first chorus pedal, so I'm not sure I'm extremely qualified to judge. I found it warm, with a nice shimmery high end. Has a nice range and depth, although beyond halfway the depth can get a little outta hand. Used it with a Dano U1, and a Dano Baritone. Sounded much better with the U1, the baritone's low end gets way too muddy.
Seemed to be a bit of noise coming out of it, but one of my other pedals is acting up, so it's more likely that.

from all of read and seen - yes. absolutely. mine was gently used, and appears to be standing up very well.

n/a

I'll be using this for singer/songwriter solo material and rock. I've been playing for over 10 years, but am just starting to explore the electrical gadgets. So far this is going to be a great tool for adding a little colour to the sound.
I've got a Dano U1, a Dano Baritone (original, no-effects model) and a Yamaha SG500. nothing worth a mint, but all good enough. Pedals = Boss CE 5>Custom Made Dyna Comp>Line 6 Delay Modeler>Fender Hot Rod Deluxe.

Fairly easy to tweak the knobs and get different sounds out of it. Has a level, rate, depth, and hi/low cut knobs. The manual is basic but shows some good settings. Anybody with a little effects knowledge should not have a problem tweaking this pedal.

I play a yamaha AES guitar into a Mesa Mark III and a custom 2x12 cab. On my effects board I run a Maxon compressor, Fulltone FDII, Barber DD, MXR phase 90, Fulltone supa-trem, and Digitech Digidelay.

A lot of people will love this pedal and a lot will hate it, just read the reviews below. But heres the thing about chorus...there are different kinds that do different things well and if you understand the limitations of certain pedals you will know how to use them. With that said the CE-5 is not for everyone! It is not and pedal that give a vintage analog chorus sound and people who expect it to be will be dissapointed. But...it gives a great warm, modern chorus sound that can go from subtle to lush to semi-leslie.

I for one am a bigger fan of this type of chorusing because I like to use chorus to fill out my sound rather than as a special effect. I have owned a lot of viontage choruses, Ross, Voodoo Lab, Ibanez, Boss CE-2. Those are great pedals too but the CE-5 is a little different in its own right.

The things I like most about it is it has the mix knob so I can bring down the effect of the chorusing. It also has the Hi-Lo cut so I can tame any upper frequencies that tend to get out of control with a lot of chorus pedals. Lastly, there is no tone loss or volume boost that I can tell when this pedal is engaged. It can go from very subtle chorusing to more lush swirling to a vibrato/leslie type chorus.

Standard Boss...built well!

Never had to deal with them.

Great Pedal...just don't expect it to be a vintage analog pedal. They do their thing and this does its. It will give a good vintage vibe but is probably not as lush and "effectful" as vintage pedal. But like I stated sometimes the vintage thing is good and sometimes it not. It really depends on the music and sound you are looking for and for me the CE-5 fits the bill well for most occasions.

the knobs are labled so if you are familiar at all with pedals then its a no brainer

it sounds great if set right. also, you can cover many sounds with it. i thinkl some people are expecting it to do more than a chorus effect, but it covers many chorus varieties.

when plugged in it was set to that "dying warble" sound thats hardly useful. also, i didnt hear the rich ensemble sound i was expecting. so you really have to tweak it, dont get me wrong, it has alot of very good, usable sounds - but with all the control over this pedal (with the knobs) you have to find them.

you may turn the rate up for a faster warble, but you may might need to fool with the other knobs to make that setting sound sweet.

i mostly use it for the lush, slow chorus effect. i use a strat>fuzz/octace up>boss chorus>tremelo>echo/delay>marshall. i sometimes throw my DOD chorus in line after the delay to get different "warbles" on the repeats. very shimmery sounds, with ot without the added DOD, most of the time its in my closet

its a boss, i'll give it a good review for the fact that its built like a tank.....you wouldnt want me to throw it at you, would ya?

i dont know, i hope i dont have to find out

it sounds great and i usually dont give anything an overall 9, but this pedal is worth it.

like i mentioned ealier, there are alot of great settings that sound sweet clean or with more gain, but you may have to turn more than just the "rate" knob to find them. in other words.......just because you need a fsater warble does not mean simply turning up the rate to speed things up will give you a fast shimmer that is as lush and spacious as the previous setting, you may have to fiddle with the high/low cut knobs........but you will find it!

The controls are pretty self-explanatory, but you need to spend some time fine-tuning to get that perfect sound.