Johnny Marr’s Boss CE-2 Chorus

The Boss CE-2 Chorus was one of Johnny Marr’s main chorus pedals during his time with The Smiths. However, based on his interviews, it seems that he was torn between using the chorus effect on his Roland JC-120 amp and a dedicated chorus pedal.

For example, below are two quotes (credit to Smiths on Guitar) in which Marr appears to contradict himself slightly. In the first quote, he suggests he’d have been better off using a chorus pedal with only his Twin Reverb amp instead of the Roland JC-120. In the second, however, he mentions how much he enjoys the JC-120’s chorus and that he “never really plays without it.”

When I listen to some of the live tapes now I think they could have been so much better if I’d just used a Fender twin. If I had the choice between one or the other I’d think I’d use the Fender twin with a really good Roland chorus pedal.

Johnny Marr

[The JC-120] has a really good chorus and I’m never without it really. I used to use a couple of chorus pedals. In the studio I was using one of the old Roland stereo-split choruses and it just happened that it had a great vibrato. It’s one of those which has got vibrato on one button and chorus on the other and I use those effects on nearly all the sessions.

Johnny Marr, Guitar Player magazine, January 1990

It could be that whoever transcribed the second quote, incorrectly assumed that he was talking about the JC-120 (hence the use of brackets) and that he was actually talking about the CE-2. This would make perfect sense because he goes on to say that he used a couple of different chorus pedals, including a CE-1 – based on his description of it having both chorus and vibrato.