Boss CE-2B Questions

[zombiwoof]

Can a Boss CE-2B (bass model) be used with guitar?  If not, how difficult would it be to mod it to regular CE-2 specs?

Thanks,
Al

[Rodgre]

I admit that I haven't studied their schematics closely enough to know the difference but my secret weapon throughout the late 80s/early 90's was that the CE-2B was my defacto chorus pedal for my guitar. I absolutely loved the sound of the CE-2B, and I keep wondering if it's okay to put it back on my pedalboard yet, since chorus was outlawed in the mid-90s.

Roger

[JasonG]

Have you done a search for CE-2b mods? If I remember correctly the only difference between the Ce-2 and the Ce-2b was a few cap and resistor values.

[zombiwoof]

Al

Have you done a search for CE-2b mods? If I remember correctly the only difference between the Ce-2 and the Ce-2b was a few cap and resistor values.

Just did a search here on the board and got nothing, but I'll try Google or something.  Thanks for the suggestion.

Al

[ianmgull]

...since chorus was outlawed in the mid-90s.

I have wondered about this myself!!!

[Mark Hammer]

Here's the CE-2B:

Here's the CE-2:

What's the difference?  Two, basically.
1) C14 is a smaller value in the CE-2B (.012 vs .033uf).  This cuts some of the bass out of the wet signal so that there is less audible "pitch wobble".  I actually implement this feature (with toggled defeat) on all my choruses, space permitting, so that it can provide a subtler sound when needed.
2) The effect level can be dialed back from unity (50/50 mix) with a 250k pot, wired as variable series resistor.

If you look at the assorted mods for the CE-2 and Small Clone projects over at Tonepad, you will see these features (and more) explained and implemented for each effect pedal.

So, the answer to your question is that if you wanted to remove the "B" aspect from a CE-2B, you'd swap the .012uf cap for a .033 unit, and simply turn the Effect level control up full.  That's it.

[LaloFP]

Hi guys! Old post, but related question: I get the C14 high pass difference. But when I run the math, a 33n with a 1Meg gives me a corner frequency of 4hz aprox. So... Why do I HEAR the bass cut? My math tells me i couldn't... right?

[PRR]

Hi guys! Old post, but related question: I get the C14 high pass difference. But when I run the math, a 33n with a 1Meg gives me a corner frequency of 4hz aprox. So... Why do I HEAR the bass cut? My math tells me i couldn't... right?

https://www.hobby-hour.com/electronics/s/boss-ce2b-bass-chorus.php

Not just the 1Meg, but in parallel with VR4+R22, or as little as 47k. Say 45k with 0.012uFd makes 300Hz. Very audible on any wide-range sound. Or 45k with 0.033uFd is 110Hz, audible.

[Rodgre]

BTW. I commented in 2008 and here it is 2023 and my CE2B has been on my live pedalboard forever and it's still my favorite mono chorus pedal for guitar. Just sayin'

Roger

[POTL]

BTW. I commented in 2008 and here it is 2023 and my CE2B has been on my live pedalboard forever and it's still my favorite mono chorus pedal for guitar. Just sayin'

Roger

I'm not surprised, because in 15 years we haven't seen any new Chorus pedals. Now there are 3 types of analog pedals

1) Old stuff reissues, DC-2W, CE-2W, TC SCF, MXR stereo chorus, PASTFX pedals.
2) Pedals that have not changed over the years, like Small Clone
3) Modern boutique, JHS, Chase Bliss, Walrus and a sea of ​​other offices that took the good old man CE2, added Tap Tempo, Mix, Delay time to it. Or ThorpyFX, Red Witch, who did something similar with Small Clone.

In the end, nothing new.

[ElectricDruid]

In the end, nothing new.

Not true! It's just that all the "sensible" chorus sounds have been done, so if you do something "new" with chorus these days, it often means that it's going to be pretty out there and weird. For example:

https://www.intensivecareaudio.com/product/fideleater-excl-vat-/15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G_N8dU4Ky8

One exception to that might be the Jackson Audio New Wave:

https://jackson.audio/products/new-wave
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jogmAlyc4as

They've tried to push the feature set on this about as far as possible without it going completely wonky, which is a good effort.

There *are* people doing new takes on Chorus, but you do have to hunt for them amongst a sea of clones and boutique copies.

[Rodgre]

BTW. I commented in 2008 and here it is 2023 and my CE2B has been on my live pedalboard forever and it's still my favorite mono chorus pedal for guitar. Just sayin'

Roger

I'm not surprised, because in 15 years we haven't seen any new Chorus pedals. Now there are 3 types of analog pedals

1) Old stuff reissues, DC-2W, CE-2W, TC SCF, MXR stereo chorus, PASTFX pedals.
2) Pedals that have not changed over the years, like Small Clone
3) Modern boutique, JHS, Chase Bliss, Walrus and a sea of ​​other offices that took the good old man CE2, added Tap Tempo, Mix, Delay time to it. Or ThorpyFX, Red Witch, who did something similar with Small Clone.

In the end, nothing new.

I agree with ElectricDruid and I sense sort of a negative tone from POTL here, which is fine. The thing is, in reference to my post that you quoted, it's not that there's nothing "new" in chorus circuits or that "a chorus is a chorus", but out of the probably 25 different chorus pedals I own, including all the holy grails, for what I need on my live board, the CE-2B just does it. I could get by with any of a bunch of them, but the character that's specific to the CE-2B makes it my choice over any others in this situation. I wouldn't know that if I hadn't gotten to know each one of the choruses in my collection pretty well over the last 40 years.

There definitely ARE people doing cool new things with chorus effects lately, though, but once the parameters of the effect move beyond a certain range, it's not exactly "chorus" anymore, is it? The fact that the same circuit can be a flanger or a chorus or a doubler with the only differences being how the knobs are set prove this point.

So to say that there's nothing new sounds like you're frustrated in some way because you are expecting something new and not finding it. That can feel like the case with pretty much every area of pedal making, especially analog pedals. There are only so many ways to shape a tone or clip a signal or echo echo echo, etc. and the differences come down to your taste and the minutiae (and that minutiae is what makes me choose the CE-2B for my live board).

On the other hand, there are plenty of "new" effects that are based on the concept of chorusing but, like I said, at some point it becomes something else, right? So it's not a chorus anymore. Something like a vibrato is just a chorus with no dry signal, right? So a more extreme circuit like a Pitch Pirate, which is just a vibrato with a longer delay time and a wide LFO sweep.... technically you could blend the dry signal back in with that and it would be a chorus, right? It wouldn't sound anything like a chorus, but you've got a modulated delay mixed with a dry signal. Isn't that a chorus?

Not really.

My point is that you're sort of right, if you want to look at it the way you do, but I can zoom out a bit and see how a concept like chorusing can get pretty crazy and unique if you alter sub-circuits of the effect, but then it's not a chorus anymore.

My eyes are on DSP stuff because we've finally gotten to a point where designers/coders are getting younger and less-connected to the way things "were" and have moved beyond trying to replicate what we already had with modeling and IR technology. They are creating effects that no one ever dreamed of before. Things that would be impossible or at least prohibitively difficult to do with analog circuits. Things like the Poly Effects Beebo, for instance, which is more like a digital modular synth/effects/modulation matrix that opens up virtually unlimited possibilities for new and unique effects as well as unique ways to achieve familiar effects, like chorusing that ARE new.

POTL, what ARE you excited about in new pedal ideas? Start a new thread and tell us! I'd love to know about forward-thinking pedal designers.

Sorry for hijacking this thread. I just felt the need to speak up since my post was quoted.

Carry on.

Roger