It’s the archetypal chorus

If you ask almost any guitarist - and especially guitarists of a certain age (cough) - to imagine a chorus effect, THIS is the sound they will bring to mind. It’s the archetypal Roland/Boss chorus effect, made legendary and burned indelibly into pop music history. It’s there in the jangly twinkle of Johnny Marr’s arpeggios, it’s the breezy open chords of Chrissie Hynde’s early Pretenders, it’s Robert Smith’s basic Jazzmaster tone on ‘17 Seconds’, it’s the basis of so many indie, dream pop and new wave guitar sounds. It’s the sound of ‘Echo Beach’ by Martha and the Muffins!

Nearly 10 years ago, Boss decided to accurately reissue the CE-2 chorus pedal, and whilst there, they took the opportunity to throw in a CE-1 emulation too. Lots of you will be familiar with the history of chorus, so I won’t labour the point. Initially it was a major feature of the Roland Jazz Chorus amp, the JC120. Boss discovered that players loved the effect so much that they built it as a standalone unit, the CE-1. A couple of years later, they shrank the essence of the CE-1 into the compact CE-2. In truth, the big old CE-1 can get crazy, especially with the vibrato (check out ‘Christine’ by the House of Love to hear the CE-1 in full weird warbly psychedelia mode), something that the much simpler CE-2 wasn’t capable of. If anything, Boss have made the CE-2 emulation in the Waza just a little bit ‘too’ polite and demure. It sounds lovely, but I do seem to remember it being a little deeper and lusher. Not to worry, the CE-1 and vibrato settings make up for this - a gorgeously deep analogue chorus comes tumbling out then. It’s still not a ‘true’ CE-1 emulation because you’re missing the preamp stage of the original, but I believe Boss has now brought out another stompbox with the CE-1 pre-amp emulated as a stand-alone effect.

I feel like I’ve come full circle. My very first pedal was a DOD FX65, way back in 1987 (thanks dad!). This was basically a clone of the CE-2. For some reason, I then went off on a voyage of discovery, encountering all manner of digital chorus units throughout the 90s and 2000s. You have to try these things, but, to be honest, you can’t best analogue chorus. There’s nothing ‘wrong’ with the chorus models in say, the Line 6 HX Stomp - but they can’t hold a candle to analogue chorus, and once you’ve experienced the immersive warm power of the ‘real’ thing, it’s very hard to go back.

Cons? Yes, just a couple. Bucket Brigade chorus will always be noisier than a digital model, it’s just the nature of the beast. But that’s actually part of its charm, in a way. Also, be aware that this is a very expensive pedal, built in Japan. It IS costly, but, depending on your needs, it’s possible that you may never need to buy another chorus ever again. You might though: the CE-2 Waza has ‘that’ Roland sound, and you are stuck with it. You can’t make it sound like Peter Hook or Kurt Cobain. If that’s your thing, I suggest you investigate some amazing ‘homage to EHX’ pedals by the builder PastFX (who incidentally have their own take on the CE-1, for a price). You may also be on the lookout for a chorus effect that flirts with flanging or delay, in which case there are options for you from Earthquaker, Walrus Audio, Dreadbox and so on. But this is the ‘archetypal’ stereo chorus effect that guitarists have used in lashings since the late 1970s - look no further.

Quick tip for you: can’t afford a Juno 60? Not to worry, just put your Yamaha Reface CS string patch through the Boss CE-2W and you might fool someone! The ‘Juno’ chorus - the ‘best’ bit of the Juno for some - is basically just the Roland chorus, which is what this is.

The ultimate chorus

This chorus is practically a no brainer. You can get two of the most legendary choruses of all time, the CE-1 and CE-2 and you also get the vibrato mode of the CE-1 (which despite the name, it has more in common with a Leslie type rotary speaker than an actual vibrato).

Like its original counterparts, both modes are very musical and it’s hard to get them to sound weird, so if you’re looking for a very experimental sounding chorus you might have to look elsewhere like the EQD Sea Machine.

Overall, this is the perfect chorus for me and perhaps, the majority of guitarists out there. It’s simple but versatile, reliable and built like a tank.

Preferred Settings + Usage:

From Gear Setup

THE analog chorus

The amazing pristine quality build of the boss series wazacraft, the stereo sound gorgeous and have three mode to experiment, it's so subtle and give you that dream-like texture that you need if you are seeking for a dream pop/postpunk/trashmetal project, it give you what it promises.

Preferred Settings + Usage:

From Gear Setup

I use it on bass

Gets any chorus sound you want. A real swiss army knife despite only having 2 knobs and a selector switch. Ce-2 mode is classic chorus that sounds like Andy Rourke, Sting, and many other chorus bass players. Whilst Ce-1 mode is extra swirly and the only chorus I've found that sounds like Duff Mckagan's live chorus sound from 1992 Tokyo. I don't get a lot of use out of the last one as I don't like very high rate sounds, but it sounds a lot like a leslie speaker.

Preferred Settings + Usage:

Hey, it’s that chorus pedal

There are plenty of comprehensive reviews out there along with demos to give you an idea of whether this chorus is for you or not. I use both the CE-1 and CE-2 modes, and I like to pair it with the VB-2W with just a very subtle hint of Vibrato. Previously, I had a Red Witch Empress chorus on my board, but you have to choose between chorus and vibrato. A great sounding pedal but have preferred the CE-2W since I got it

From Gear Setup

Expensive - Overrated

There are many better chorus pedals including vintage circuits from boss, this is one of those overhyped things that just never gets undone. It sounds fine.

Classic 80s sound

Have both CH-1 and CE-5, but this got the classic authentic 80s chorus, especially the middle CE-1 mode, which I use the most. It's perfect if you want that new wave sound. If I should complain on anything, it would probably be that it's not true stereo but rather wet/dry signal split when you connect both outputs. It would also be nice with some additional controls. But I would say that the warm analog sound of CE-1 mode alone makes this rather expensive pedal worth it, any day.

From Gear Setup

The very reason why I'm never going back to digital.

As a metal guitarist, I've been constantly in search of the very tones I needed for where I'm headed, and for clean tones, an amazing chorus pedal compliments the sound when used correctly.

I was initially turned onto Boss chorus pedals back in November of 2017 when I sold my TC Electronic G System after how it kept on giving me lots of disappointments in the long run - tons of modulation effects that just sound pale and lifeless. I was initially considering ditching analog to save up for a "Eh, maybe this is an okay-purchase" Fractal Axe-FX II XL+...

...until I got my hands on the Boss Waza Craft Chorus.

The vintage vibe of the classic Chorus pedal brought back life to my clean tones. I myself particularly love the second voicing on the pedal - CE-1 Chorus. It has the smooth cleans that no other digital multi-effects processors could ever come close to. In my opinion, Boss has a real winner here. The recreation of the classic chorus sounds helped me end my search for the perfect clean tone, and allowed me to start making music rather than get stuck in the search for tone.

Fractal and Line 6, your services are no longer required.

Incredible, classic sounds

Simplicity at its most wonderful; easy to find, incredible sounds, without sacrificing variety. This goes everywhere from a subtle hint of stereo movement to Johnny Marr-goodness to faux-leslie extravagance. If you like Chorus, you've come to the right place. My preference would be for there to also be a mix knob, but the wet/dry output kind of takes care of that, so no complaints at all.

It’s a CE2 plus MORE

I mean cmon it’s the iconic Ce2 with an amazing Ce1 setting and Vibrato Setting. I find myself using the Ce2 and Ce1 settings every honestly it’s just the beats of both worlds and has the most lushes chorus sound.