Boss Chorus options??

tone1

I'm putting together a small board of entirely Boss Pedals, which is almost complete (when I get to the post office) with thanks to a last minute entry of a PH-1r from @ICBM .. My only question is whether it's worth changing my CH1 Chorus for a CE2? 

What’s the opinion of the gathered masses? 

richardhomer

I did exactly this. I have two late Taiwanese CE-2s - I definitely prefer their sound to the CH-1. Softer and more musical to my ears. It’s not night and day - but played back to back - clearly noticeable.

tone1

Thanks Richard.. I sorta missed the whole Boss thing first time around, apart from a Blues Driver.
I’m aware that too many Boss pedals in a row might play havoc with my bypass tone but so far have 6. They all sound like classic sounds I heard on the radio growing up. The CH-1 sounds great but the CE-2 is Regarded as a bit of a classic.

viz

I love the ce2 - just be aware it gives the signal a bit of a boost. 

builttospill

How about the The CE-5? I’ve got one of the older analog chipped versions and it sounds wonderful

builttospill

My board is now mainly Boss and I love it. I keep banging on about it but the SD-2 and OD-1 are my favourite drives and combined with the CE-5 it all sounds great.

tone1

Thanks, I’ll have a look on YouTube at the CE-5

victorludorum

The waza ce-2w is superb too.

Beexter

The earlier analogue CE-5 is great. I like the fact it has a mix control which made it more usable than the CE-2 for me.

tone1

Found a direct comparison of the CE-5 & CH-1

https://youtu.be/rmFNH3Wnf1E

builttospill

Beexter said:

The earlier analogue CE-5 is great. I like the fact it has a mix control which made it more usable than the CE-2 for me.

I believe you you need to look for the blue or pink label CE-5’s to make sure you get an analog chip version... could be wrong?

JezWynd

DC-2 would be my choice. The CH-1 is my least favorite of the Boss chorus sounds, it sounds too biting and thin with single coils ime. The CE-5 is nice - the older analog version is the best.

I have a CE-2 that's been modded to 9v supply and caps upgraded, it's the best sounding CE-2 I've heard, much smoother and hi-fi than the stock version that I can only put down to the caps (metal film iirc).

Re. CE-5 analog/digital versions, from Bossarea If the second letter/first serial number combination is earlier than P1, you have the analog type.

ICBM

I like the CH-1 exactly because it’s thinner and less ‘syrupy’ than the CE-2 and CE-5, but I like the CE-5 as well - it’s better than the CE-2 because it has the effect level control. I also prefer the CE-3 to the CE-2 - I’m not sure exactly why! And it does cut bass a bit too much as well.

So I think that makes the CE-2 the one I like least... I recently had an early ‘long dash’ one and to be honest I was just pleased to sell it for a lot of money. The chorus in my ME-50 sounded just as good.

tone1

Lovely thanks...I’m not unhappy with the Ch-1...The CE-2w is looking a good bet in the online demo’s

bingefeller

tone1 said:

Lovely thanks...I’m not unhappy with the Ch-1...The CE-2w is looking a good bet in the online demo’s

The CE-2W is great, it does more of syrupy chorus rather than the watery chorus of the CH series pedals.  

ICBM

I should get around to trying my CEB-3 Bass Chorus for guitar really... I never have!

thermionic

I’ve done that, just turn the filter control off - although filtering out the bass frequencies before they’e effected will obviously have less affect on guitar (but still might be a useful control). I guess it’s based on the CH-1 or CE-5?

It’s also the only stereo chorus pedal I have, so it was fun to experiment. Also you can just send the 100% wet signal (which is purely vibrato, not chorus) into a single amp.

Jonathangus

Double post

Jonathangus

builttospill said:

Beexter said:

The earlier analogue CE-5 is great. I like the fact it has a mix control which made it more usable than the CE-2 for me.

I believe you you need to look for the blue or pink label CE-5’s to make sure you get an analog chip version... could be wrong?

JezWynd said:

Re. CE-5 analog/digital versions, from Bossarea If the second letter/first serial number combination is earlier than P1, you have the analog type.

The same is true of the CH-1 - they both switched to digital in 2001.  Serial number P1 or later and grey label = digital version.  Blue or pink label = analogue.

tone1

Thanks Guys...I think I’ve got to try an analogue CE2 of some description