Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble

Alex Turner is seen using the Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble Pedal in his pedalboard for the Arctic Monkeys. This Boss pedal has been used since their 2009 - 2010 Humbug tour.

According to this website he currently uses the Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble Pedal on the Getaway tour.

On this picture you can see a Boss CE-1.

According to the lot notes from Bonhams auction house website, Eric Clapton used the Ibanez HD1000 Harmonics/Delay, a DBX 160 compressor, a model SDE-3000 Roland delay, a Dyno-My-Piano Tri Stereo Chorus, a Boss CE-1 chorus, and a Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal for his Bob Bradshaw rack system in the mid to late 1980s.

Appears on the equipment list used to make Syro.

BRIAN MAY's 1982 SYSTEM The second stage system that I designed and built for Brian May during the Queen years was, from the Guitar: Pete Cornish Line Driver (on Guitar strap): 100ft special cable with power for Line Driver Pete Cornish Treble Boost Pete Cornish Treble Boost #2 with bypass switch Foxx Phaser with bypass switch Pete Cornish Line Driver and Hum Loop Buster to Clean Amps (3 X AC30 - Normal Channel) Foxx output also to MXR DDL II (#1) then 3 X Delay #1 Amps via Line Driver and Hum Loop Buster Foxx also to MXR DDL II (#2) then 3 X Delay #2 Amps via Line Driver and Hum Loop Buster Foxx also to Roland CE-1 (seriously modified by Pete Cornish) then 3X Chorus Amps. The above all built in two units - a pedalboard on stage and a large rack unit off stage (behind the AC30s) as was pictured in the August 1986 copy of Guitarist (USA) - check it out. N.B. Brian May always used the volume control on his guitar to reduce the drive into the Treble Boost for quiet numbers and the second Treble Boost was used for solo boosts. Oh - and the “Cry Baby” in his pedal board is the “Foxx Phaser” speed control. The other pedal is for controlling the Eventide Harmoniser (part of the P.A.) for certain solos.

From his Instagram feed

"Things I used a lot for that sweet sweet chorus sound"

John used this pedal from 1974-c.1980 for a chorus effect on his bass.

Which guitars did you use on Rush's first LP, Rush? I used the 335 and a rented Rickenbacker 12-string. That's it for guitars. I played them through my Marshall 50 with a 4-12 cabinet, and I used a Maestro phase shifter, a Cry Baby wah-wah, and an Echoplex. Many of your songs have either a phased or a chorus effect. I like both sounds. Ever since A Farewell To Kings I've used a Roland Boss Chorus. I liked the Maestro phaser as opposed to, say, MXR Phase 90s or 100s; it was a little more subtle than the MXR phase lines. But after I heard the Chorus, I loved it and decided to incorporate it into my music. Hemispheres and Permanent Waves have a lot of Chorus -almost every song has Chorus, since with a three-piece band it tends to widen the guitar sound.

"This one is an old Boss chorus, the original one, and it's on its last leg, but it still sounds good. And that, I use for another, I think 20 seconds, I use it on the E-Bow intro to "Black Hole Sun". It just makes it a little mysterious sounding. So, everything's for a reason." - Frampton about Boss CE-1.

"Totally full blast. I had two of them, and I had an old Roland Chorus, that's the metal one that you put on the floor, that you plugged into a wall -- there's not a wall wart -- it's a real AC plug." - furthermore, in the article there is Boss CE-1 pictured.

According to Reverb's website, his pedalboard for the "Hell Freezes Over" tour included the Boss CE-1.

"They’re there for life. I had a couple other pieces that became too much real estate for my pedalboard, but I had some of the old [CE-1] chorus ensembles. Back in the day, I loved those things."

The main comping sound of “Don’t Stop ’Til You Get Enough.” Andy Leeds owned an Eddy Reynolds-modified, flat-top Rhodes 88. This was the same Rhodes used by David Foster and David Paich on so many hit recordings of the ’80s. We put that through my Paul Rivera-modified Roland CE1 chorus.

"Above all, we wanted it to sound not like a traditional guitar solo; it just needed to sound interesting. It then goes from that into a Klon—with no drive on it really, just to beef up the mids—and then through a Roland CE-1 chorus."

Tame Impala played Jimmy Fallon on 8-12-2011 performing the song "Why Won't You Make Up Your Mind". At 3:14 you can see a vintage Boss CE-1 in the upper left corner https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRVdCQ2wu4Y You can also see the Boss CE-1 in the upper left corner of this photo http://images.equipboard.com/uploads/source/image/7381/big_tame.jpg?v=1417628443

As shown in this post.

In [this 1982 documentary on the making of Gabriel's fourth album](https://youtu.be/scmYG1Pv1_Q?t=16m7s), we see a shot of several pieces of gear set up in his then-home studio. At the 16:07 mark, there's a clear shot of the CE-1 above one of Peter's keyboards.

Another guitar pedal, which was confirmed during the Boss interview shown here. Here is the bit where they talk about the CE-1 and the CE-2. "Back in The Police days, were there any BOSS pedals that you gravitated to?" "Yeah. I obviously had the Roland and BOSS chorus." "The CE-1 Chorus Ensemble, or the CE-2 compact pedal?" "That’s the little pedal right? There was a bigger box, you know?" "The CE-1 and CE-2 were BOSS pedals, and there was a rackmount Roland chorus called the Dimension D." "Yeah, I had the big box for a while, because it was very good. You know, for a long time in that period, I operated [it] with my Pete Cornish board once it was all set. Obviously, as time went on, I got the BOSS pedals."

"Yeah, It’s pretty big. I still have that [CE-1] Chorus Ensemble, which is the best of BOSS—a big, heavy cast-iron thing. I bought that in Hollywood at our first recording session. It was awesome." - [Steve Morse](http://www.bossus.com/community/boss_users_group/30071).

In 1976 Roland launched the mains powered Chorus CE-1 chorus pedal and this was added between the pedal board and the Echoplex. Due to the lack of real estate on the board and size of the CE-1 this was normally placed on the floor next to the board.

"Massive shout out to @roland_uk getting us all geared up for the festies #wazacraft"

these pedals are hurting my head

"Roger Hodgson's Wurlitzer, fed through a Roland Jazz Chorus on previous albums, was DI'd and the signal then split through a Boss chorus pedal to create a semi-straight, semi-modulated sound." The only Boss chorus pedal available when this album was being recorded was the Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble

Sorry for the lo-res pic, but the Boss CE-1 is on top of the Roland RE-201 (the one atop the mixer). Tony would often run the Hammond thru this or an MXR Phaser (also visible next to the Boss pedal) or both. Initially used as a replacement for a Leslie speaker, it actually gave Banks his quite distinctive chorused-organ sound (think "Robbery, Assault, and Battery" or "Afterglow")

[This](http://www.guitargeek.com/dean-deleo-army-of-anyone-guitar-rig-and-gear-setup-2007/) detailed gear diagram of Dean DeLeo's Army of Anyone stage setup, which traces the signal flow of the equipment in his 2007 guitar rig, includes a Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble pedal.

According to Burton's website, Burton also used Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble Pedal.

His guitar signal runs to three **Boss** pedals - a **chorus**, an overdrive, and a compressor. From there it goes to one of three 100-watt Marshalls (the other two are spares): "I always play with the guitar flat out, and I set the level as it would be for a live rhythm sound. Then if it comes to showing off and doing a solo, I flip on the overdrive. I like a really loud rhythm sound."

A guy that knows Steve on this forum says He used a CE-1 Chorus Ensemble on the early Mr. Mister recordings in the mid 80's. Postby markmod » Mon Feb 20, 2006 7:58 pm Hey Guys, Steve is a pal of mine and I thought I could give you some information. Yes, he recently moved to Nashville, and he goes back and forth to Nebraska, where he owns a hunting preserve. Steve is an avid hunter and sportsman. His early Mr. Mister rig consisted of Jim Kelley and Dumble combos, split into stereo via a modified BOSS CE-1, with a Korg rack delay into the FX loop of the Dumble. A BOSS HM-2 (Heavy Metal) pedal was used on "Broken Wings," among other Mr. songs. This was all before his first Bradshaw rack. Steve mentioned that his big influence during the Mr. Mister years was guitarist, Jamie Oram-West of the FIXX. All those splashy, effected, and compressed chords came from that influence. Some years ago, I did a couple of tech jobs for Steve when he played out around Los Angeles. He had a small rack with pedals (fulltone stuff, a red snapper, among other things) through a modified Bogner Shiva head and 4X12 cab. His guitars were usually a white reissue Strat and a reissue goldtop Les Paul. Switching was done via Bradshaw 2X4 and RS-10 MK II. His studio rig is another story, he uses a larger rack and multiple heads and cabinets. Steve is pretty secretive of his set-up and doesn't give up much information. However, I have seen it many times and have played through it. Out of respect for Steve's wishes, I will not give up any of that info, just the older rigs I can discuss. Thanks for understanding. Last edited by markmod on Sat Jun 28, 2014 7:21 am, edited 1 time in total.

" The CE-1, the big Roland chorus. I wasn’t particular interested in guitar when I started playing music. My interest was in the Hammond organ. It was on loan at the house for a month I got into that sound. When I realized in 1980 when I got some Leslie speakers and plugged my guitar into the Leslie speakers, I went “of course”. My whole guitar technique, is a keyboard players technique. I drone strings like a keyboard player holds notes across chords. As a guitar player, you lift your hands off the guitar and change chords, I never really liked that. I developed that jingle jangle style. Also, adding 5ths and getting that harmonic interplay that creates sounds that are not actually what you’re playing but they’re extra sounds. I created a technique putting these guitar parts together – it’s also a bit of a banjo technique – the pedaling the strings."

The first effects pedal that this website says Die uses is a Chorus Ensemble by Boss.

Great interview with Terry in which he reveals his effects set up during his time with The House of Love.

"love a good ensemble"

According to Premier Guitar's gear list attached with the interview with Boorer, one of the pedals he uses is the Boss CE-1 chorus ensemble pedal.

We can see the 2 switches + power button of the CE-1 at the bottom right corner of the picture.