Mini pedals seem to be spreading like a plague of mice these days. But where many manufacturers use the mini-pedal platform to simply stuff a simplified, more compact digital circuit into a matchbox-sized enclosure, TC Electronic has adapted their Tone Print parameter editing-and-uploading technology to the super-compact pedal format.
Those who play the Corona Mini without dabbling in Tone Print tricks will find the pedal capable and musical. It’s great for ’80s-vintage Johnny Marr tones, and I particularly enjoyed the Leslie-style sounds at faster speeds and depths. The real fun of the Corona and its other mini siblings (there are mini versions of the Flashback delay, Shaker vibrato, HOF reverb, and Vortex flanger, among others) is the Tone Print capability. You can download plenty of existing artist-created Tone Prints that will add, say, additional thickness or warble to the default settings. But if you really want to reshape the Corona to suit your playing, the Tone Print editor is both fun and a genuinely powerful tool for tailoring sounds. The editor is intuitive—especially after a little practice—and the adjustments can be surprisingly transformative, particularly with more aggressive depth settings. Whether you use Tone Print or not, the Corona Mini is an impressive little chorus. But the combination of compact convenience and Tone Print flexibility set the Corona apart in the now-burgeoning mini-pedal marketplace.
Test Gear: Fender Telecaster, Marshall 1958X
Ratings
Pros:
Tone Print technology and compact format add up to a great value.
Cons:
Can’t switch between factory default settings and Tone Print.
Street:
$119 street
Company
tcelectronic.com
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