Boss CE-2

The Boss CE-2 Chorus, released in 1979, was the first Boss chorus pedal designed for guitar and the company's first compact chorus pedal¹. It took the chorus circuit Boss had already built into the CE-1 Chorus Ensemble, itself borrowed from the Roland Jazz Chorus JC-120 amplifier, and distilled it into the standard compact pedal format²³. Boss describes it as tuned for mono operation with a lighter modulation sound than the CE-1, and says this signature original "has defined the guitar tones on countless hits from the 1980s to the present day"².

The CE-2 is an analog pedal with a single mono output, and it is discontinued. It remains one of the most recognized chorus effects ever made, and its circuit has been copied, modded and reissued repeatedly, most directly in Boss's own CE-2W Waza Craft Chorus⁴⁵⁶.

What the CE-2 does: a mono chorus from the CE-1

The CE-2 builds on the CE-1 with a reduced feature set: mono output instead of stereo, no vibrato mode, and a simpler control panel⁵. Where the CE-1 was a mains-powered unit with both chorus and vibrato modes and stereo outputs⁹¹⁰¹¹, the CE-2 is a battery-or-adapter compact pedal that does one thing: chorus, in mono.

That mono design is central to how it sounds. Tonehome's product page notes the pedal "is mono and has a remarkable mid-boost"³, and Guitar World's history of the pedal argues those warm, rich mids are a huge part of its allure: many chorus effects scoop the mids for a shimmering sound but get lost in denser mixes, while the CE-2 does not¹². Boss itself positions the CE-2 as a lighter, more focused modulation than the CE-1².

The pedal has one characteristic many owners notice immediately: a volume drop when the effect is engaged. RockBoard's PedalPedia entry calls it "a notable volume drop when engaged, a characteristic that some players found limiting"⁴.

The controls: Rate and Depth

The CE-2 has exactly two knobs, Rate and Depth. Guitar World called the pedal "basically 'idiot proof'" for it, providing great-sounding chorus with no extra controls to learn¹². It was also a step forward from the CE-1, whose single Intensity knob combined everything: the CE-2's independent Depth and Rate controls made its chorus both flexible and clear¹.

With Rate at its maximum position the LFO oscillates at 3.5 Hz, and this value decreases as an internal trimmer is adjusted⁵. Even with both knobs fully maxed, Guitar World found the pedal produces "a gently warbling vibrato effect that is more warm and welcoming than woozy and weird"¹². Pedal of the Day's reviewer noted you can set both knobs fairly deep to get more of a tremolo-y effect⁸.

Inside the circuit: a 1024-stage BBD

The CE-2 is an analog bucket-brigade design. At its heart lies a 1024-stage Bucket Brigade Device (BBD) chip, which Boss says delivers a colorful chorus sound that is deep and lush¹. The full chip set, per GuitarPCB's technical analysis⁵:

• MN3007 1024-stage BBD (IC3), the delay line itself
• MN3101 clock driver (IC4), which drives the BBD
• uPC4558C dual op-amp for the input and output circuits
• TL022LP op-amp for the LFO, which uses a triangle waveform

Around the BBD sit the filters that make the circuit work. The anti-aliasing and reconstruction filters both use a Sallen-Key low-pass topology; the anti-aliasing filter acts as a band-pass letting harmonics between 48 Hz and 6.6 kHz through, and the reconstruction filter passes 14.6 Hz to 6.6 kHz⁵. A pre-emphasis filter boosts high frequencies with a gain of 5.7 above 2.4 kHz before the delay line, and the matching de-emphasis filter attenuates frequencies above 410 Hz on the way out, holding at -15 dB by 2.3 kHz⁵. The dry and wet signals are summed at a 50/50 mix ratio⁵. Anasounds' circuit walkthrough adds that the LFO's first stage generates a square wave signal whose frequency varies with the Rate pot¹³.

The pedal runs on a single-layer PCB with through-hole components, sized to fit the standard Boss enclosure, and a protection diode guards against reverse-polarity adapter connections⁵.

History and versions

The CE-2 was released in 1979 as Boss's first compact chorus pedal for guitar¹, succeeding the 1976 CE-1³. Roland stopped marketing the CE-2 in 1982 when the stereo CE-3 arrived, but continued producing it until around 1990, and it remained available until 1991⁵¹. Boss has kept a chorus pedal in the compact lineup ever since¹⁵.

Production moved over the pedal's life, and collectors distinguish three versions⁵:

Guitar World confirms the Japan-to-Taiwan shift in 1988 and notes that earlier made-in-Japan units sell for premium prices¹².

There is also a chip difference within the Japanese runs. Early CE-2 pedals from the late 1970s and very early 1980s used the MN3007 BBD chip, while later Japanese-made units used the MN3207³. Guitar World's advice to buyers is blunt: "look for a unit featuring an MN3007 BBD chip, which is more desirable, thanks to the circuit's lower noise and improved clean headroom"¹².

The CE-2's circuit has lived on well past the pedal itself. Premier Guitar, reviewing the Way Huge Blue Hippo MkII, traced its design back to the CE-2, "an underappreciated yet powerful chorus that has since become a sleeper classic"¹⁶. DIY builders reproduce it too: the Pork Barrel build document from MadBean Pedals describes the CE-2 as having "a signature sound" that has made it "a staple of many guitar and bass pedal boards for decades," one of the most instantly recognizable chorus effects next to the EHX Small Clone¹⁷. Fromel Electronics voices the same circuit for bass in its CE-2B modifications¹⁸, and Griffine Effects sells a vibrato kit for the CE-2, adding the pitch-only mode the stock pedal lacks¹⁴.

What reviewers said

Published opinion on the CE-2 has been consistently strong. JHS Pedals' history of legendary chorus pedals calls it "the most widely-known, bestselling, all around greatest pedal of all time when it comes to chorus"¹⁹. Guitar Pedal X's Stefan Karlsson notes the CE-2 is "generally considered deeper, richer and warmer" than the CE-3 that replaced it, mostly due to its supporting components rather than the chipset²⁰. The same writer, reviewing Boss's PX-1 Plugout multi-effects pedal, adds that he personally prefers the CE-2W and VB-2W reissues "for their expanded ranges"²¹.

Guitar World's review desk called the original "a stone-cold classic mellow chorus that was reissued in Waza Craft form in combination with the CE-1"²²². On the DIY side, a builder documenting a CE-2 veroboard layout at Guitar FX Layouts concluded of the build: "worth it though, it sounds so good!"²³.

The reissue itself has been well received. MusicRadar reported the CE-2W from Summer NAMM 2016 as a reissue of the classic CE-2, made in Japan, packing two modes: a standard mode and a CE-1 setting with an added chorus depth control²⁴. Delicious Audio's product page describes the CE-2W as including modes from both discontinued models, the CE-2 and the CE-1, under Boss's five-year warranty²⁵, and Guitar World's review of the Waza Craft pedal lists Boss as manufacturer²⁶. JHS calls the Waza Craft version "dead on perfect" and notes it features a mode from the earlier CE-1¹⁹.

Who uses it

Documented CE-2 players span guitar and bass:

• James Honeyman-Scott of the Pretenders used an EHX Clone Theory on the first Pretenders album but swapped to a CE-2 for his live rig¹².
• Charlie Jones used a CE-2 for fretless bass in Robert Plant's band. In a Boss interview he said: "I used a BOSS CE-2 Chorus for fretless bass. They wanted that kind of sound"²⁷.
• John Mayer had a Boss CE-2, blacked out with tape or paint, on his 2022 Dead & Company pedalboard²⁸.

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