TC Electronic Corona
120 Guitarist February 2011
Want loads of delay types in one compact pedal? Here we are then…
£105, £105, £105 & £125
EFFECTS
though, that’s perhaps more
interesting in dishing up less
common sounds, especially so
when phase cancellation occurs
at the zero point and the sound
disappears completely –
something that can create
strange tremolo-style effects.
Corona chorus
Besides its TonePrint sound the
Corona delivers a standard
chorus effect inspired by the
vintage TC Stereo Chorus
Flanger plus a Tri Chorus, a
variation of the regular chorus
that uses three stereo choruses
with various offsets for both
depth, speed, phase and chorus
delay time to produce what TC
describes as a unique, very
broad and lush chorus.
Sounds
If you like clear as a bell chorus
sounds, the Corona won’t
disappoint but, for a different
chorus f lavour, the Tri Chorus
offers a more complex sound
that’s denser and more static
than the standard setting. Both
sound good in normal use, but
also offer plenty of scope for
the speed and depth knobs
work as you’d expect, but the
tone knob changes the effect’s
emphasis on high and low
frequencies letting you really
focus in on sounds that will sit
just right with your tone. The
latch function is brilliant for
adding vibrato just where and
when you want it. It’s
particularly effective on a
sustained note or chord – a ‘rise
time’ knob determining how
long it takes for the vibrato to
reach its specified depth to
provide the full effect.
Vortex flanger
Besides the TonePrint setting
the Vortex offers two types of
flanging – a basic flanger and
a tape flanging emulation, also
known as through zero
flanging. Four knobs control
speed, depth, feedback and
delay time.
Sounds
The Vortex is a versatile flanger
with plenty of potential
variation available from the
controls. This is especially true
of the feedback knob, which
offers variable amounts of both
negative and positive feedback.
It provides a host of familiar
flanging sounds in its standard
mode – metallic tonalities and
obvious sweeping sounds are
all possible. It’s the tape option,
recording a big stereo sound
using both outputs. And if it’s
subtlety you want, the FX level
knob lets you add just a tickle of
chorus to your dry sound.
Flashback
delay/looper
The Flashback recalls TC’s
Nova Delay in the number of
distinct effects it offers. Its
fourth knob is a rotary switch
that can call up nine different
delay effects plus the TonePrint
setting as well as setting it up as
a looper. The smaller three-way
switch sets the timing division
for the tap tempo function and
offers quarter note, eighth note
or both for a multi-tap repeat
pattern – tap tempo being
implemented by pressing the
footswitch and rhythmically
hitting the strings (the pedal
mutes when you do this).
Sounds
Displaying a comprehensive
selection of delay types, there’s
little extra that we could ask for
in a delay pedal, especially one
as compact as this. The 2290
setting offers clean-as-you-like
The Rivals
TC pedals more or less go
head to head with BOSS in
this price range: the CE-5
Chorus Ensemble (£89), the
BF-3 Flanger (£109) and the
DD-7 Digital Delay (£159),
but sadly no dedicated
vibrato pedal as the VB-2 is
long discontinued. Line 6’s
modelling pedal range has
the Echo Park (£121) and
Liqua-Flange (£55), while
DigiTech’s HardWire series
has the DL-8 Delay/Looper
(approx £186), CR-7 Stereo
Chorus (approx. £162) and
TR-7 Tremolo/Rotary
(approx £150), which
features vibrato sounds. For
a dedicated vibrato pedal,
albeit much more expensive,
Strymon’s Ola dBucket
Chorus And Vibrato (£279)
features a Ramp function
similar to the Latch mode.
switch calls up the selected
TonePrint sound.
Sounds
Delivering smooth undulating
pitch fluctuation, the Shaker
offers cool vibrato sounds and
can do a pretty good rotary
speaker emulation. There’s
plenty of variation available –
The Shaker’s Latch function is
brilliant for adding vibrato just when
and where you want it
GIT338.rev_tc 120 12/22/10 5:09:36 PM