Would You Pay 1 Million Dollars For An Effects Pedal?

Guitar players can never get enough pedals. It’s the perfect wave – the Holy Grail – you’re always searching for THE ONE that will give you that sound that seems just out of reach. Despite boutique pedal manufacturing going through somewhat of a shakeout, there’s always another new gear maker creating a hot new overdrive. Yet vintage pedals are still in high demand, and there’s one even priced at a cool 1 million dollars!

It Comes With A Case

No, that’s not a typo. An ancient Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble pedal from way back in 1976 is listed on Reverb for a million bucks. What makes it worth it? I guess if you’re a collector it’s important because it’s serial number S000001 – the very first of its kind. And it comes with a case!

Remember that, back in 1976, chorus was a very new sound. It had been introduced the year before on the Roland Jazz Chorus amplifiers and took the world by storm. The CE-1 was the same chorus circuit housed in a floor pedal.

It wasn’t only guitar players who wen ga-ga for the sound, keyboard players quickly jumped on board as well. It added a new dimension to an electric piano that had sound rather flat up until this time.

I would think that the price of this unit is aimed at the Jim Isray’s (owner of the Indianapolis Colts and avid guitar collector) of the world, so if a million dollars feels a bit too high but you still want that sound, you’ll have to settle for a Boss CE-2W, which has a switchable CE-1 mode on it. You can get it for just 0.0229% of the vintage CE-1’s price.

And if you have another $500k laying around, you might want to check in on this Klon Centaur overdrive pedal, but you’ll have to settle for serial number 2.

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