TC Electronic Corona Chorus

I don’t really like chorus pedals especially with distorted guitar. I can tolerate it on a clean sound, but there are much better effects to add to a signal than chorus. With that said, I have TC Electronic’s Corona Chorus on my pedalboard. Why you may ask, well that’s because my band does covers, and some of those covers are from the 80s. Everyone knows that if you play a song from the 80s you better have a chorus pedal on, because as a collective group we guitarists turned on our chorus pedals back then, and didn’t turn them off until sometime in the 90s.

When I went shopping for a chorus pedal I wanted something versatile, small, and at a good price point. Strymon’s Ola provided multiple settings at a decent size, but more expensive than my budget allowed. Boss has a couple of good choruses, but they lacked the multiple types that I wanted. In the end, the Corona made the most sense. The key that makes TC Electronic pedals amazing tone generators is TonePrint capabilities of the pedals. I already owned two other TC pedals so I knew the build quality was there.

The Corona has four knobs and a mini-switch for controls. The knobs are: Speed, Depth, FX Level, and Tone. The mini-switch allows changing between the preloaded chorus and tri-chorus along with one slot for beaming a TonePrint to. The tone knob doesn’t work as well as I would like if it is turned all the to the left the chorus effect completely disappears. It does not give a richer tone, but it does work when turned more to the right giving a much more treble sound to the chorus. I like the standard chorus more than the tri-chorus, but that just might be my old ears not liking something new.

My two usual gripes about TC pedals I will repeat here: I want more toneprint slots and it eats batteries so get an external power source for it. If removing the battery feature would give enough space to add circuitry to allow more TonePrints, then I’d be all for it.

Sometimes the necessity of the situation determines the gear purchase. I don’t particularly like chorus, but it is a necessary evil to try and capture the sounds of the performance of other guitarists. My pedalboard would look different if I were in a different band or situation. This is not a bad thing it is a necessary thing. With that said, TC Electronic has built yet another great pedal. Solid construction, good sound, versatility, and small size.

The TC Electronic Corona Chorus is another one of the new Tone Print pedals that the company has released. It was initially of interest to me when I wanted to pair one with my Flashback delay for some shimmer on my clean sounds. It has a slightly less complex feature-set than some of the other pedals in this series. It has a basic chorus setting, and a switch to take it into the Tone Print (load presets on with USB) or Tri Chorus modes. The controls are nice and basic, just speed, depth, tone and a master FX level. It is on par with many of the popular chorus pedals on the market (BOSS, MXR, EHX, etc) for features. It does have the nice small size and easy to access battery compartment which are nice things to have in a pedal for sure.

UTILIZATION

Setting up this pedal is pretty easy. I wasn't really able to get any chorus tones that I personally cared for, but the controls were easy to use and did what I thought. It can go from a nice light shimmer to a very warbly shaky sounding chorus. A nice feature too is the "tone" knob, which allows the user to dial the EQ in (IE: if they prefer a darker chorus or maybe something brighter) they can do that with this pedal. Like all TC pedals in this series it's shooting for a nice set of boutique level tones in an easy to use package.

SOUND QUALITY

I was initially very interested in this unit to add some nice shimmer to my clean sounds and perhaps use it with some overdrive for an eighties type "detune" effect as well. Unfortunately I just could not get into the tones of this unit. It didn't quite have the rich and lush choruses that I was hoping for, but it tended to sound a bit thin and bright to my ears. I tried dialing it in as best I could but I found it just not to work for my ears. The regular chorus mode and tri chorus mode didn't sound too different to me, just a bit darker and more bassy in the tri chorus mode. It was surprising because I know TC is known for effects like this, but I guess you can't win 'em all.

OVERALL OPINION

All in all I think the TC Corona Chorus is a decent idea for a good quality chorus at a fair price. However I just wasn't impressed by the tones or way it sounded. It just seemed thin and anemic compared to what I heard in my head and ultimately I decided not to buy one afterwards. For $130 this pedal is a decent deal, but its tones might not be for everyone. I guess the user should really try one to decide!

This is a pedal that has just come onto the market. TC Electronics have been know for their excellent effects rack units such as the 2290 or the G Major models. These units have served many artist and musicians around the globe. Now Tc Electronics is going after the pedal market with a new lineup of classic effects sound and overdrive boxes.

This unit is a chorus pedal that has a variety of usable tones for just about any chorus or flanger type purposes. You can get subtle chorus tones all the way up to a Leslie speaker simulation sounds. This is a great pedal for the money and with true bypass it makes it a must own for any chorus user.


TC Electronic Corona Chorus Guitar Effects Pedal Features:

3 chorus types including SCF- and TriCorus-style effects
TonePrint gives you instant access to custom pedal-tweaks made by top performing guitarists
Speed, Depth, Color and Level controls let your sculpt your chorus sound from subtle to extreme
Stereo I/O for added flexibility
True Bypass preserves your tone
ToneLock protects your presets under all circumstances
Easy battery access
Small footprint saves precious pedalboard space
High-quality components
Road-ready design

UTILIZATION

Detail
Type Stereo Chorus
Inputs 2 x Instrument
Outputs 2 x 1/4"
Power Supply Included No
Batteries 1 x 9V
Height 1.97"
Depth 4.8"
Width 2.83"
Weight 0.66 lbs.

SOUND QUALITY

There so many sounds that can come from this unit. I personally like the subtle chorus tone that mixes well with high gain distortion for lead lines and such. If you crank the level up and have the the rest of the knobs around 1-2 o'clock it is perfect for lead playing.

Another great feature is the tone print which is the middle switch that takes it out of tri chorus and regular chorus. You can hook this pedal up to your computer and access many artist's favorite setting's and instant download those sounds into your pedal. They are completely free of charge and a cool features to have.

OVERALL OPINION

At new these pedals come in at around $129, which is a steal of a price. This is such a good price for a pedal that sounds absolutely fantastic! I highly recommend this pedal to anyone who needs a good chorus pedal. It is cheap and sounds good for any style of music.

I could compare this long chorus chorus Mooer

and analog chorus Mxr analog chorus

it is really present as the all-digital electronic tc trying to get to the sounds of the other
then, where we are happy where we look elsewhere

However, the sounds can range from leslie sim to the traditional multi chorus chorus

but I have not found the extra sounds just means
not so warm against it by the marketing aspect is awesome !!

we should see if the software supplied with really allows to reach all conceivable sounds
but the basic sound will not really changed
the original color will surely be the same