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TC Electronics 3rd Dimension Chorus Review – Same sound as the OTHER pedal but cheaper?
Introduction
I love Chorus! If you’ve followed the website for a while, you should know this! Well, I’ve been looking at getting some more modulation pedals to mess around with, and when I saw this pedal, it caught my interest. Then I saw the price and had to try it! This is a sound I’ve been dying to explore – and at this price, it’s hard not to give it a go! So, today we’ll be looking at the TC Electronic 3rd Dimension Chorus!
This is a chorus/Dimension effects pedal based on the classic rack-mount gear of the ’80s! It gives you lush, juicy chorus while maintaining clarity and note articulation – without making your sound overly washy or seasick! That’s something we all hate with chorus effects! So, why don’t we go through the very simple controls and talk about the pedal? Then we can hear some sounds and go through what we think.
TC Electronics 3rd Dimension Chorus
The TC Electronic 3rd Dimension Chorus is an all-analog chorus based on the studio analog chorus sounds that were massive in the ’80s. It features a Bucket Brigade Delay circuit for true analog tones, with no knobs and minimal adjustments – just a simple-to-use pedal packed with oodles of rich and thick chorus sound! Now, you can’t get away from the fact that this has been heavily inspired by the Boss DC-2W pedal, which itself is based on the Roland SDD-320 Dimension D rack-mount unit.
At this point, we’d normally talk about the controls – however, this pedal has very minimal controls! It only has 4 mode buttons, labeled 1 through 4. These control how much chorus you get, from very subtle to very heavy! But don’t think you’re limited to just 4 options – you can press multiple buttons at once, allowing up to 16 different sound combinations. The only other things on the pedal are the footswitch at the bottom and an LED light to let you know whether the pedal is on or off.
The 3rd Dimension Chorus is built into a full metal enclosure and features true bypass switching. It can run on either a 9V power supply or a battery. It includes top-mounted jacks as well as a top-mounted 9V power input. The TC Electronic 3rd Dimension Chorus retails for around £30 (depending on where you get it from).
The Sounds
For sounds, we just grabbed a jam track, dialled in a good amount of chorus, and had at it! This was the first outing for the updated LT Custom Strat. It’s been to the shop and had some work done! There’s a full article in the works going over what was done and why it was done.
Next, we go through the sounds you can get from the TC Electronic 3rd Dimension Chorus! Of course, there aren’t many controls – it’s just 4 switches! So, we take you through every possible switch combination so that you can hear the differences.
For all the sounds in this video, the chorus is running into the front end of the Boss IR-2 (Review Here). For the solo at the start, we used the NUX Plexi Crunch Distortion (Review Here).
What are my thoughts?
The Design
For the price, the pedal is very well made and feels very solid! I know weight doesn’t really equate to quality, but this pedal has a good weight! I will say that the pedal is larger than I thought it would be. It isn’t a big pedal by any means, but it is thicker and wider than I expected from looking at the photos. I love the look and design of the pedal as well! The colours are very much inspired by the era it’s based upon – a huge retro vibe with this pedal! I am all for that!
The buttons are very nice and have a satisfying click feel, so you know they’re engaged! It also has top-loaded jacks, so you know we’re loving that! This makes it rather pedalboard-friendly, even though it’s slightly larger than expected. You can snug other pedals right up next to it!
"I find with chorus, you just have to accept that it’s going to sound ’80s and a little bit cheesy - lean into it!"
The Sounds
Sounds! How does this pedal sound? Well, it sounds like the ’80s in a box! Nice, lush chorus that doesn’t get too seasick! I’ve been running it before my gain, and I find that makes it sit lovely in a mix. And if I feel like I need more, I just press more switches in! The chorus is thick and lush. Sometimes when you click a chorus on, it can sound thin and small. However, this doesn’t do that! Click it on and you have beautiful, rich chorus for a fraction of the price of the “other” pedal.
I find with chorus, you just have to accept that it’s going to sound ’80s and a little bit cheesy – lean into it, and that’s where the fun begins! Just embrace the cheese and the motion and roll with it! I think people try to buy chorus and then turn the mix down so much they can barely hear it. Chorus is that sound! That sound you’re trying to adjust when you turn the pedal on – that is chorus! You either want it or you don’t. That’s why I love this pedal: you have that sound by default, and all you can do is add more of it.
More on Sounds!
On a clean tone, this pedal is really lovely. It adds a nice warm thickness to your sound – perfect for a funk or disco vibe, or even just to add something to plucked chords. It brings a nice movement to your sound and can make backline rhythm parts more fun. However, where this pedal really shines is into a pushed amp! Set your amp to medium or high gain and click the chorus on – you’ll get a wonderful sound! From subtle chorus with gain to full-on ’80s “Talk Dirty to Me” tones – it’s just so much fun to play around with!
The Drawbacks
One thing I wish they had done is use an LED to let you know which switches are pressed down. This isn’t something you’ll need all the time, but every now and then you’ll look down and wonder which switches are active. Without bending down and looking from an angle, you can’t really tell. So maybe some LED switches to show what’s pressed or not. The buttons do sit lower when engaged, but from a high angle, you can’t see it clearly!
Also, as I mentioned at the start, the pedal is bigger than I thought. You can see from the photos that I’ve put it up against a Boss pedal. It doesn’t look that big until you try to fit it on your board. Most people don’t use chorus frequently, so taking up a lot of space with a chorus pedal could put some players off. However, I’m not one of those players, so I don’t mind!
Final Thoughts
Honestly, I think the TC Electronic 3rd Dimension Chorus pedal has flown under the radar! I don’t see many people talking about it, and I see even fewer using it. When I was researching which chorus pedals to review (there are more on the way – don’t worry!), I couldn’t find many reviews or videos on this pedal. I think for the price, it’s a killer unit. If you want those Boss Dimension Chorus sounds but don’t want to drop the funds on a pedal you might not use that often – then this is the perfect option!
As mentioned, the pedal is bigger than expected, but thanks to the top-loaded jacks and flat edges, you can push other pedals right up against it. That means it doesn’t feel huge on a pedalboard. Want an easy, simple, and affordable chorus? Then this is the one to get!
Conclusion
That is our review of the TC Electronic 3rd Dimension Chorus pedal. If you’re after a simple chorus and don’t want to drop a whole load of money on one, then I would definitely recommend this! It sounds killer, is simple to use, and comes in at under £50. If you’d like to purchase one, you can find the link below! These are affiliate links, so using them doesn’t cost you anything extra – but it does give us a small commission.
What did you think of the 3rd Dimension Chorus pedal? Did you enjoy it? Let us know!
Maybe we should check out the Boss Dimension C pedal next! It’s a lot more expensive – so it begs the question: is it worth it?
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TC Electronic 3rd Dimension Chorus Links:
- TC Electronics Website
- 3rd Dimension Chorus (Andertons Affiliate)
- 3rd Dimension Chorus (Thomann Affiliate)
- Andertons Affiliate Link
- Thomann Affiliate Link
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