Boss CE-2 Chorus: Is there a "better" chorus out there?

Re: Boss CE-2 Chorus: Is there a "better" chorus out there?

Hmmm... I've always had mine in the loop. I guess I just put it there and never looked back. Lol... May need to experiment with it.


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Post distortion/in the loop keeps the chorusing clearer... so if you're playing distorted lead you get two leads... dry and one with the slight detune. Depending on settings it'll produce that instant 80s lead people like to complain about, but it doesn't need to be that way. Cobain did it this way too and you don't hear many saying he had an '80s cheesy lead tone, but it was essential to the feedback sound he produced.

Before distortion makes the chorusing dirtier. Paticularily useful with higher speeds where the movement can make arpeggios pop out of a mix.
 
Re: Boss CE-2 Chorus: Is there a "better" chorus out there?

Post distortion/in the loop keeps the chorusing clearer... so if you're playing distorted lead you get two leads... dry and one with the slight detune. Depending on settings it'll produce that instant 80s lead people like to complain about, but it doesn't need to be that way. Cobain did it this way too and you don't hear many saying he had an '80s cheesy lead tone, but it was essential to the feedback sound he produced.

Before distortion makes the chorusing dirtier. Paticularily useful with higher speeds where the movement can make arpeggios pop out of a mix.

Interesting!


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Re: Boss CE-2 Chorus: Is there a "better" chorus out there?

I'm on my third or fourth chorus pedal. Started with a CE-2 back in the late 80's (wish I'd kept it). Went through a handful of multi-effects (GSP-21 Pro and Legend as well as RP-7). Then, back to pedals with a VS H2O version 2, but didn't care for the delay before the chorus. I have been using a GLABs Tidy Chorus for about a year now and it's been beautiful. By far, the chorus I've been looking for since I gave up the CE-2. It's a little hard to find (bought the last one Willcutt Guitars had in stock) and a tad pricey @ $250, but worth it to me.

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Re: Boss CE-2 Chorus: Is there a "better" chorus out there?

So... I got home from work today and started messing around with putting my CE-2 in different places on my board. Tried it in front of everything except the wah, after overdrive and clean boost, and different places in the loop. Funniest thing happened... It's sounding better now, but it's back in the loop! However, instead of being after my DD-6 and DD-20, I moved my Maxon PT999 into the loop as well, placing it and both delays AFTER the chorus. Not sure why it seems to sound better there, but it does.


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Re: Boss CE-2 Chorus: Is there a "better" chorus out there?

I don't think I've ever heard a CE-1, but my Boss CH-1 is one of the creamiest, silkiest chorus's I've ever heard. I also have an old DOD FX65 that has its moments too.
 
Re: Boss CE-2 Chorus: Is there a "better" chorus out there?

The CE-1 is my all time favourite, but it's just too bulky to tour with and it has a few impedance issues when it comes to using it with guitar. I had a CE-2 in the 80s and there's really not much comparison, the CE-1 is far more open and transparent, whereas I find the CE-2 to be a very congested chorus that takes over the whole sound of the instrument. I still have a couple of Boss DC-2 Dimension Cs in the closet and they're a nice alternative, but I settled many years ago on the Retro-Sonic Chorus, which has been on my board ever since. I was fortunate to get one before the good Panasonic chips ran out. It has the advantage of also having the wonderful Vibrato side of the original CE-1, which is an excellent fast Leslie effect in itself.

Here's a video comparison of my CE-1 and the Retro-Sonic that I did many years ago. You can hear that the CE-1 has a bit more sparkle to it, but in my conversations with Tim Larwill from Retro-Sonic, we learned that his CE-1, from which he derived his design, was much darker than mine, which explains his voicing for the Retro-Sonic.

 
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Re: Boss CE-2 Chorus: Is there a "better" chorus out there?

I am not a very big fan of chorus, but really like the tape-style, zero-through chorus and flange on the strymon DECO.
 
Re: Boss CE-2 Chorus: Is there a "better" chorus out there?

The CE-1 is my all time favourite, but it's just too bulky to tour with and it has a few impedance issues when it comes to using it with guitar. I had a CE-2 in the 80s and there's really not much comparison, the CE-1 is far more open and transparent, whereas I find the CE-2 to be a very congested chorus that takes over the whole sound of the instrument. I still have a couple of Boss DC-2 Dimension Cs in the closet and they're a nice alternative, but I settled many years ago on the Retro-Sonic Chorus, which has been on my board ever since. I was fortunate to get one before the good Panasonic chips ran out. It has the advantage of also having the wonderful Vibrato side of the original CE-1, which is an excellent fast Leslie effect in itself.

Here's a video comparison of my CE-1 and the Retro-Sonic that I did many years ago. You can hear that the CE-1 has a bit more sparkle to it, but in my conversations with Tim Larwill from Retro-Sonic, we learned that his CE-1, from which he derived his design, was much darker than mine, which explains his voicing for the Retro-Sonic.


For some reason, your video link is showing an invalid URL.


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Re: Boss CE-2 Chorus: Is there a "better" chorus out there?

I've used a CE-5 for years on acoustic guitar. With the rate set low and depth set high it adds a nice faux 12 string sound that thickens things up without sounding like an obvious effect.
 
Re: Boss CE-2 Chorus: Is there a "better" chorus out there?

Meh - My Digitech CF7 Chorus factory can do all that and a bag of chips, with more modifiable parameters.
 
Re: Boss CE-2 Chorus: Is there a "better" chorus out there?

18v of oldschool BBD.....
Love it....sold my Ibanez in my youth and had regretted it ever since, until some years ago some guy was selling his Maxon CS-505 cheap....'cause it was just a Maxon.....yeah gimme that bad chorus of yours cheap...no problem!
View attachment 68666
Not mine on the picture, but same make!
 
Re: Boss CE-2 Chorus: Is there a "better" chorus out there?

18v of oldschool BBD.....
Love it....sold my Ibanez in my youth and had regretted it ever since, until some years ago some guy was selling his Maxon CS-505 cheap....'cause it was just a Maxon.....yeah gimme that bad chorus of yours cheap...no problem!
View attachment 68666
Not mine on the picture, but same make!

Nice!


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