Two Different Boss CE-3 Chorus on the Scope 

Thanks Filipe, I highly apreciate your comments!

Congratulations! Very underrated pedal...

Yes! And then there are some of us coming to me because their beloved pedal doesn´t sound right anymore. Why does it do so -it wasn´t supposed to do so? Is there anything wrong with it or is this a clinical side effect of GAS (nowadays PAS) syndrom... Oh I´m sorry man it´s a chorus and ahh a chorus is a chorus is a chorus.

Thanks joelmahan! When editing the video the text time seems sufficient but after uploading it is always a little too fast - I don't know why...

Thanks for your comment Cycles Goff!

Hm good question. In general you can use any cap with the required values in this case. The answer is very subjective in any case cause it depends on what you like to emphasize. I personaly am not a silver mica guy....In my experience these tend to be a little louder and straighter in their range. In this case they could drive you away from the old to the more modern sound.

The green label was introduced 1984 to indicate compliance with FCC rules. Which was fulfilled in all versions. (Basical: no emissions of unwanted radio signal..)

@@MrJLobster So, the green label on the CE-3 is the 1984 version?

@@andrescolasanti No. All CE-3 Pedals from 1984 on until the end of production Japan or Taiwan had the green label. There will also be some blacklabel CE-3 from 1984 out there. Black= no difference just an other label color.

welcome Alejandro I´m pleased!

Yes I also think this could be the case. Thanks for you comment Alan!

Could get a bit icepicky with those j-fets at the input inside a TL072. But it would be more linear. The NE5532 likes to see a little more input current to get into it´s comfort zone which is at least my experience. I haven´t done much with the newer OP-amps you suggested but I´m shure it could be improoved.

@@MrJLobster I have a CE3 dated 85 but with the Sharp and the 4558 chips was looking to see if other chips could improve the noise,im a stickler for very quiet pedals,although i know its tough with analog chorus.

@@ClydePicture The noise isn´t generated by the OP-amps in this case. It is mostly comming from the carbon resistors and the BBD´s. The TL072 got a low noise input so maybe you should give it a chance - Good luck ClydeP

Of course it´s still really good! The 4558 chip version has got a little bit more harmonic distortion. The mitsubishi version stays very clean if you push it with a clean boost. It´s frequency range ist (a little) more even while it is slightly louder than the later one. Both pedals lower the volume slightly when engaged.

@@MrJLobster perfect, thank you very much and good job here!

No, no other way because the bottom plate is easily interchangeable so the label doesn´t say much without a serial number...

@@MrJLobster Thanks. This pedal hasn't had the bottom plate with the label for a long time.

(The following info is more related to Part 1 of the series: "The secret CE-2 Mod" ) Renato: The two BBD IC´s of the CE-2 and a CE-3 are not interchangeable because the chips are reverse biased. The input resistor of the different pedals are in relation to the used input transistor to give a unity gain and tone reproduction. The input resistors are not the root cause and are not critical to the sound of a CE-2. It is simply not possible to apply the schematic to a CE-3. It is that different. The BBD chips have the main impact on the core sound of a CE-2 and will not work on a CE-3 board. But you can get as close as it gets with my mods. Sorry I´m late with my answer - your post somehow went under.

There is a serial code decoder for Boss Pedals: www.stompboxzone.com/decoder/ There are green and black label´s from Japan but also green lables form Taiwan. Transition was around 1988.

@@MrJLobster Thankx!

Mine is from April '87. Don't know what chip it has, but I know it sounds great! Very warm organic chorus if that makes sense. Also there's a "secret" mode - it makes a crazy oscillation sound when used in mono with the knob in stereo.

Interesting question! I don´t know. Both pedals have the green labeI. I soldered one of the Mitsubishi IC out and the labeling under the chip clearly states 4558D. So it could be possible that the Boss production line ran out of stock at some time and used what was available at this time.But I doubt - cause there where a lot of other pedals made in this timeframe with the 4558D in it. It could´ve been that the pedal was designed around the common JRC chip but they startet the production with a superior chip on purpose to make a clear difference to the existing CE-2 pedal and provide a cleaner Chorus with much more headroom - which was a thing back then.

@@MrJLobster I have another question, do both versions benefit from the volume mod and secret mod from your other video?

@@voxpathfinder15r I would definately recommend the volume mod on both pedals -if you don´t plan to use the pedal too often in stereo mode. Haven´t done the secret mod on the mitsubishi chip version yet - but i´m shure it would not hurt either of the one.

Unfortunately there is a volume loss with the CE-3 if you use it in mono mode. The pedal is designed to give equal output at bypass and effect position in stereo mode. Therefore the direct signal have to be cut to achieve this. But the CE-3 got it´s unique features like the useful out of phase chorus option if you use mode 1output B (D - E) or a vibrato effect in mode 2 using output A.

@@MrJLobster even with the 84' model?

Does it pick up volume on vibrato mode?

@@jonny1251 Yes even with the 84 model.

The delay signal has to be subtracted from the effect to achieve the vibrato signal. Therefore the sound is slightly cut. In general ALL analog stereo pedals got somewhat lower output in mono mode exept there is an output volume pot or mix pot. Using the volume mod on a CE-3 does help the pedal a lot if you use it mono - in stereo the direct signal is louder than the effected -it is uneven but you can easily balance this out with your two amps...