John Frusciante’s Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble

John used this pedal from around 1990, and all the way until his departure from the Peppers in 2010. Usually, the pedal was used in the studio as a sort of a splitter, as John would plug his guitar into it, and split the signal between his Marshall Major guitar and Marshall Bass head.

While playing live, the Boss CE-1 was used for the same purpose, although here splitting the signal between a Marshall Major and a Marshall Silver Jubilee amps (John’s usual live setup).

I use a Boss Distortion pedal, an Ibanez wah-wah, and a big old ugly Boss chorus pedal. [Guitar Player (USA), April 1990]

Another pedal is a Boss Chorus Ensemble, which I use to split the signal in my rig. [Vintage Guitar (USA), April 2009]

The pedal was also most likely used on many of the songs that feature some sort of a chorus effect in them – for example, the ending part of ‘Under the Bridge’.