TC Electronic Corona
122 Guitarist February 2011
£105, £105, £105 & £125
EFFECTS
The Bottom Line
TC Electronic
Shaker
£105
Denmark
Vibrato
6.4mm jack input
and output jack input, USB
Speed, depth, rise time,
tone, vibrato/toneprint/latch switch
Bypass
9V DC power from battery
or adaptor (not supplied)
72 (w) x 122 (l)
x 50mm (h)
Test results
TC Electronic
Vortex
£105
Denmark
Flanger
6.4mm jack inputs
(L/mono, R), 6.4mm jack outputs
(L/mono, R), USB
Speed, depth,
feedback, delay time, flanger/
toneprint/tape switch
Bypass
9V DC power from battery
or adaptor (not supplied)
72 (w) x 122 (l)
x 50mm (h)
Test results
TC Electronic
Corona
£105
Denmark
Chorus
6.4mm jack inputs
(L/mono, R), 6.4mm jack outputs
(L/mono, R), USB
Speed, depth, FX level,
tone, chorus/toneprint/‘tri cho’ switch
Bypass
9V DC power from battery
or adaptor (not supplied)
72 (w) x 122 (l)
x 50mm (h)
Test results
TC Electronic
Flashback
£125
Denmark
Delay and looper pedal
6.4mm jack inputs
(L/mono, R), 6.4mm jack outputs
(L/mono, R), USB
Delay, feedback, FX level,
mode switch (2290, analogue, tape,
lo-fi, dynamic, mod, ping pong, slap,
reverse, loop, toneprint), interval switch
7 seconds (40
seconds in mono and 20 seconds in
stereo for the looper)
Bypass
9V DC power from battery
or adaptor (not supplied)
72 (w) x 122 (l)
x 50mm (h)
Test results
Shaker
We like: TonePrint function;
Latch mode; broad tonal range
We dislike: Nothing
Guitarist says: A cool pedal
with an effect that’s not heard
as much as other modulation
effects, but deserves to be
Vo r t e x
We like: TonePrint; range of
adjustment; unusual tape
setting sounds
We dislike: Not much
Guitarist says: A flanger that
goes beyond what many
compact flangers can do
Corona
We like: TonePrint; two distinct
chorus flavours; subtle blends
We dislike: Not much
Guitarist says: Two very
different takes on the chorus
effect in a single pedal
Flashback
We like: TonePrint; variety of
delay effects; tap tempo
We dislike: Pedal doesn’t mute
instantly when holding down
the footswitch for tap tempo
Guitarist says: A contender
for the most versatile compact
stompbox delay available
digital delay, but if you want
degraded repeats there are
three different f lavours of them
as well as a lush modulated
delay and a very useful dynamic
delay that lets the repeats come
to prominence at the end of
phrases. With 40 seconds in
mono and 20 seconds in stereo,
the looper offers a useful level
of practicality, and whacking
the strings for tap tempo makes
perfect sense for guitarists.
Verdict
These are excellent pedals and
are sensibly priced. They’d be
very good value even without
the TonePrint feature, but it’s
this that really sets them apart
from the herd. TC has brought
something to the table that
other compact pedals don’t
have – effectively these pedals
are updatable.
In all four pedals, the
TonePrint sounds that came
straight out of the box offer a
useful and nicely programmed
variation on the named effect
but, as at the time of testing the
TonePrint website wasn’t live,
we weren’t able to try out any of
the signature sounds.
Nevertheless we’re pretty
sure that the likes of Jeff Beck
and Steve Vai aren’t going to put
their names to something that
sounds less-than-good, so we
expect there will be some cool
sounds coming down the road.
And as long as TC can keep up
a constant stream of artists
willing to share their sounds,
you’ll always have something
new to try out.
GIT338.rev_tc 122 12/22/10 5:09:39 PM