Boss's Most Famous Pedals: Why the Compact Box Earned Its Reverence
Boss has released well over 100 different effects since 1977, but a small handful of them didn't just sell well — they defined entire categories of pedal, and in a few cases, entire genres of music. This page covers the brand's most legendary releases beyond the DS-1, SD-1, and Blues Driver (which get their own dedicated buying guides elsewhere on this site).
Quick take: Boss's reverence isn't nostalgia dressed up as history — it's earned. The CE-1 was the first chorus pedal ever made, in any format. The DD-2 was the world's first stompbox digital delay. The compact enclosure Boss introduced in 1977 is still the template most other pedal makers build around today. Few companies can claim to have invented as many categories they still dominate.
CE-1 Chorus Ensemble (1976) — The First Boss Pedal, Full Stop
Before Boss even had its now-iconic compact enclosure, the CE-1 existed — and it holds a genuinely unmatched distinction: it was the first chorus pedal ever released by anyone, in any form, adapting the chorus and vibrato circuit from Roland's JC-120 amplifier into a standalone floor unit. It's also technically Boss's first product as an effects brand. Original units are collector pieces today (commanding several hundred dollars used), but Boss's own Waza Craft reissue, the CE-2W ($233 new), includes a dedicated CE-1 mode alongside its CE-2 emulation — giving you access to both historic circuits in one box.
CE-2 Chorus (1979) — The Chorus Pedal Every Other Chorus Pedal Is Measured Against
Three years after the CE-1, Boss squeezed that same lineage into the compact format and created what's still widely regarded as the most famous chorus pedal ever made. The CE-2's lush, three-dimensional modulation became inseparable from clean guitar tone throughout the 1980s, and it remains a reference point players use to judge every chorus pedal released since — analog or digital.
Current pricing: original CE-2 units run around $160-210 used; the modern CE-2W Waza Craft reissue ($210-242 new) adds stereo output and the CE-1 mode on top of a faithful CE-2 recreation, making it the practical way to own this circuit today without hunting a 45-year-old unit.
DM-2 Analog Delay (1981) — Imperfect By Design
The DM-2 succeeded Boss's very first delay, the DM-1, and became the pedal most players mean when they talk about "that warm, dark, analog Boss delay." It was the first all-analog delay in the compact format, built around a bucket-brigade device (BBD) — a technology that sacrifices some frequency response compared to digital delay, but in doing so creates the murky, organic character the DM-2 is loved for. It doesn't compete with your original signal; it thickens it. Boss brought it back as the DM-2W Waza Craft in 2014, and it remains one of the most requested analog delay reissues in the company's catalog.
DD Series Digital Delay (1983-present) — The Delay Every Store Has in Stock
The original DD-2 wasn't just Boss's first digital pedal — it was the world's first digital delay in a stompbox at all, built around a custom chip developed for Roland's SDE-3000 rack unit (a favorite of Steve Vai and Eddie Van Halen). At 800 milliseconds of delay time with far more clarity than the analog DM-series, the DD-2 set the template that nearly every digital delay pedal since has followed in some form.
The lineage is still very much alive: the DD-3T (a modern reissue of the classic DD-3) and the flagship DD-500 (which can recreate the DD series' entire history plus classics like the Roland Space Echo) both remain current products. It's genuinely hard to find a working guitarist's pedalboard without a DD-series delay on it somewhere.
MT-2 Metal Zone (1991) — The Most Memed Pedal in Guitar History
No pedal on this list divides opinion quite like the MT-2. It's been called the most polarizing distortion pedal ever made — criticized for a scooped, buzzy voicing that's easy to dial into an unusable extreme — and it's also, by a wide margin, one of the best-selling distortion pedals of all time. That contradiction is the whole story: plenty of guitarists who mock the Metal Zone online also owned one as their first "real" distortion pedal, and its extensive 3-band EQ with dedicated mid-frequency control gave 1990s metal players more tone-shaping range than almost anything else at its price point. Still in continuous production, and still the butt of the same jokes it's been getting for over 30 years — which, in its own way, is a form of reverence too.
TU Series Tuners (1983-present) — Not Glamorous, But Everywhere
The original Boss tuner line doesn't get talked about with the same mystique as the DS-1 or CE-2, but it deserves a mention for sheer ubiquity: Boss built one of the first widely-adopted chromatic pedal tuners, and the current TU-3 sits on more professional pedalboards than almost any other single Boss product, distortion pedals included. It's the rare case of a "boring" utility pedal achieving its own kind of legendary status simply by being the thing everyone already owns and nobody thinks to replace.
Why So Much Reverence, Specifically
A few things set Boss apart from other pedal makers with long histories:
- They invented categories, not just products. The CE-1 wasn't a good chorus pedal — it was the first one that existed. Same with the DD-2 and digital delay. Few brands can claim multiple category-defining firsts.
- The five-year warranty and reputation for reliability (extended company-wide in 2014) means these pedals survive decades of touring abuse, so vintage units are still gigged today rather than sitting in collections.
- Waza Craft reissues respect the originals rather than replacing them. Boss's approach to reissuing the CE-1/CE-2 and DM-2 adds genuine value (stereo output, dual-mode switching) instead of just repackaging old circuits at a markup.
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FAQ
What was the very first Boss pedal ever made? The CE-1 Chorus Ensemble (1976) — released before Boss had even introduced its now-iconic compact pedal enclosure the following year.
Is the MT-2 Metal Zone actually a bad pedal, or is that just a meme? It's genuinely divisive rather than simply bad — its extreme EQ range makes it easy to dial in an unusable scooped tone, but the same range gives experienced users more tone-shaping control than most distortion pedals at its price. Both the criticism and the sales success are real.
Should I buy an original CE-2 or the CE-2W Waza Craft reissue? For most players, the CE-2W — it includes a faithful CE-2 mode plus the CE-1 mode and stereo output, at a similar or lower price than hunting down a clean 45-year-old original.
What's the difference between the DM-2 and the DD-series delays? The DM-2 is analog (BBD-based), giving a warmer, murkier, more textured repeat. The DD series is digital, giving cleaner, more precise repeats with a longer maximum delay time. Many players keep both for different purposes rather than choosing one over the other.
Are older Boss pedals from the 1970s-80s worth more than current production? It varies by model — CE-1 and DM-1 units carry real collector premiums since they were never reissued exactly, while the DS-1 and MT-2 have stayed in continuous, largely unchanged production, so vintage units don't command much premium over new ones.