Product Review - Boss CH-1 Super Chorus

Boss has a long history with chorus pedals starting with the CE-1 in the late 70s. This was was essentially the same circuit that first appeared on the famous Roland Jazz Chorus amplifier, but shoehorned into a separate floor-based unit. Then came the legendary sky blue CE-2 stomp box, which has become the industry standard chorus and is on the boards of many famous players to this day.


So on to the Boss CH-1 Super Chorus. With the Boss pedigree in chorus pedals you might think this particular model would be something special. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

The CH-1 is a fairly popular, widely available unit that is made in Taiwan. Based on my gear and my ears, here’s what I think about it:

The Good
· Does not affect your natural guitar tone
· No volume boost when engaged
· Does the classic clean and icy chorus sounds quite well
· You can run your signal into a second amp from the unit
· Boss “tank like” build quality
· Works well with single coils and humbuckers

The Bad
· Limited range of subtle sounds so not very versatile
· Cannot do a Leslie simulation at all
· EQ and E.Level controls do very little
· Cold and sterile sounding

My favorite setting is 12 o’clock on the E. Level and EQ, and about 2 o’clock on the Rate and Depth. The pedal can be used with acoustic and bass guitars and because of its subtle effect, it works quite well with these other instruments.

Overall I think this is a very average chorus pedal and there are many better options out there even though you can pick these up used on eBay for only $40-$50. For a little more money I would go with a used Arion Stereo Chorus SCH-1, a used Boss CE-2 or perhaps an Electro-Harmonix Small Clone. And if you are really serious about chorus, there are many boutique offerings from Analogman, Diamond and others.