I have owned a Taiwanese CE-2 for a couple years, never really liked it or used it much, kind of a thin, metallic tone. Then I read that the Japanese were much better, so I sold the first and bought the Japanese version. I'll admit that it's better, but still has some of that fake sounding, metallic-ness to the tone. My question is this: I have seen CE-2 pedals from Japan with both a black sticker and a green sticker (mine has the green). Does anyone know if there is a difference even between these in terms of tone? In other words, are the ones with the black stickers really the good ones? Thanks!!

I'm going to answer my own question here, so that maybe my experiences can help someone else find what they want or save some $$$....

I have owned all three versions of the Boss CE-2 pedal (for anyone who hasn't heard about this pedal, it is an excellent all analog chorus pedal from the late 70s-early 80s that was used by Edge, Andy Summers, Gilmour, etc.) These pedals are still available for about $65 on Harmony Central classifieds, ebay, etc. So, here's the scoop - by far the best sounding version of this pedal are the original, Made in Japan units with the BLACK sticker on the back (and the metal battery compartment screw if you're lucky, then you know it's the real deal). This chorus is unreal, warm, watery, swirly, sounds like heaven. I first owned the Taiwanese version of this pedal, and never really liked it. It is kind of thin, with a metallic-ness to it that I couldn't use. So I sold that one and bought what I thought was the famous 'Made in Japan' version on ebay. This pedal was made in Japan, but apparently is a reissue or something and has a green sticker on the back. This pedal was not significantly better than the Taiwan version. So I sucked it up and traded that one on a gen-u-wine original from the late 70s. This fucking pedal is incredible, I can't stand it it's so good, I wake up at night and plug in just for a minute!

I lost about $25 on each of these transactions, so my total price for THE TONE was more like $120 (ouch!!) To me it's worth it b/c this is the only chorus I've heard in a while that I really like. To be fair, the other 2 versions of this pedal are not bad, they are all analog chorus pedals, but the original Made in Japan units are magical. If you can find one you won't be disappointed.

I wonder how the Fulltone ChoralFlange stands against these?

I own a Japanese ( black sticker ) CE-2 and it is a totally rightious chorus . I also really like the Ibanez CS-9 . My Choralflange smokes them both though . It has way more flexibility , is true by-pass , flanges , doubles , and gets close to a " rotary speaker " . Cons : big , expensive , and I don't love the switch ( it's got that rubber shock mount thing around it and gets stuck in the sole of my shoe sometimes ) . By the way , the " green " sticker ce-2 improves dramatically with a straight ni-cad battery ( Everyready classic ) . Chews batteries though . All just my opinion but I hope this helps .

I think I have mentioned this on another topic by I have been planning to get a ChoralFlange, but I have been wanting to write the creator about it first. I printed out the manual and it states that it cannot accept high-gain pickups (i.e EMGs), which I about to install into my SG. It seems like it can't handle those, it won't be able to handle being in the effects loop of an amp, which is where I plan to put it. The Mesa has an input trimmer, so perhaps this will help, but I am going to write him sooner or later about it.

Just giving this topic a bump so that klasaine will notice it.

Does that ChoralFlange work in the Effects Loop?

I've never used the C/F in a loop . I've hit the input pretty hard with OD and to my ears it only sounds better ... in a Robin Trower kind of way . I know that Mike Fuller says that high output pick-ups ( EMG's etc. ) may adversly affect the sound or the way the C/F reacts but he's the super purist and he just digs normal output pick-ups . Every player that I know who has one has set aside their other chorus pedals . It does chew batteries , although to my ears shows NO bias to either alkaline or ni-cad .