The TC Electronic PLETHORA X3 TonePrint Pedalboard is a compact multi-effects pedal that gathers the company's TonePrint effects into a single unit. Instead of one effect with a few presets, it works like a small pedalboard inside a pedal: three pedal slots, each holding a TonePrint effect of your choice, arranged on up to 127 mini boards you can step through as presets. TC Electronic announced it as bringing TonePrint pedals to a compact multi-effects format1.
Three TonePrint pedal slots in one unit
The idea behind the X3 is simple: it brings all your favorite TC effects into three pedal slots3. Each slot behaves like its own pedal, with its own effect, its own TonePrint selection and its own bypass footswitch. Because the unit holds up to 127 mini boards2, each board is effectively a preset of the whole three-pedal rig, so you can build one board with a compressor, a chorus and a delay, another with an overdrive and a reverb, and switch between whole boards rather than tapping individual pedals.
TonePrint is TC Electronic's system of loading different versions of an effect into a pedal slot. Guitar World's reviewer Trevor Curwen described how each pedal has 75 slots housing TonePrints, and you can load those slots with your own TonePrints created with the software editor, alongside Artist TonePrints and TC's factory options4. In practice that means a single slot can be a delay from one designer, a reverb from another, or your own edited version, all stored on the unit and recalled from the front panel.
Pedal of the Day's review summed up the unit's appeal: "We love the versatility in this unit," calling it "a wonderful machine that can instantly be a staple on any board, in any situation"3.
Where it came from
The X3 takes its origin from the larger TC Electronic Plethora X5 TonePrint Pedalboard, slimming it down for an easier fit on your board, as Pedal of the Day put it3. The X5, announced earlier, lets you combine up to five TonePrint pedals of your choice and arrange them in any order on each of its boards6, and Guitar World reported that it contains every TonePrint pedal TC has released, spanning compression to pitch-shifting, delay, reverb and every modulation under the sun, with stereo inputs and outputs and up to 75 TonePrints stored for each effect7. The X3 carries the same TonePrint storage figure of 75 slots per pedal4 but trades the X5's five slots and five MASH switches for three slots in a more compact enclosure46.
If you need more simultaneous pedals per board, the larger PLETHORA X5 runs up to five TonePrint pedals per board against the X3's three6.
The controls
Guitar World's review lists the panel as: Effect, TonePrint, 3x Parameter, Play/Edit switch, Board switch, 3x Bypass footswitch4. That maps cleanly onto the three-slot design:
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Effect | Selects the effect for a pedal slot |
| TonePrint | Scrolls through a specific TonePrint8 |
| 3x Parameter | Adjusts parameters of the loaded effects |
| Play/Edit switch | Switches between playing and editing |
| Board switch | Moves between the mini boards; a board up/down switch9 |
| 3x Bypass footswitch | Bypasses each of the three pedal slots independently |
The TonePrint selector knob or switch is the heart of the front panel in Guitar.com reviewer Richard Purvis's description9: it steps through the 75 TonePrint slots stored for the effect in that slot4, so changing the character of a slot is a knob turn rather than a menu dive.
Tuner and connections
Alongside the effects, Pedal of the Day notes "There's also an integrated, ultra-precise and responsive chromatic tuner on board"3, which covers the tuning job a dedicated tuner pedal would otherwise take up on the board. On the back, gearnews.com's report describes "The unit has MIDI and a full stereo I/O section"5, so the X3 can sit in a stereo rig and respond to MIDI for preset changes.
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Questions
How many pedals can the PLETHORA X3 run at once?
The PLETHORA X3 gives you three pedal slots, and each slot holds a TonePrint pedal of your choice. Guitar World's reviewer described the layout as Effect, TonePrint, three Parameter controls and three Bypass footswitches, one for each slot, so all three effects can sit on the board at the same time and be switched independently.
How many presets does the PLETHORA X3 hold?
TC Electronic says the PLETHORA X3 is a flexible collection of up to 127 mini boards within your pedalboard. Each of those boards is a full preset of your three pedal slots, so you can set up different combinations of effects for different songs and step between them with the board up and down switches.
Does the PLETHORA X3 have a built-in tuner?
Yes. Pedal of the Day's review notes that there is an integrated, ultra-precise and responsive chromatic tuner on board, so the X3 can cover tuning as well as your effects without a separate tuner pedal on the board.
What is the difference between the PLETHORA X3 and X5?
The X3 is a slimmed-down version of the larger PLETHORA X5. The X5 combines up to five TonePrint pedals on each board and carries five MASH switches, while the X3 brings the same TonePrint concept to three pedal slots in a more compact multi-effects pedal that takes up less room on a board.
Can I load my own TonePrints onto the PLETHORA X3?
Yes. Guitar World's review explains that each pedal has 75 slots housing TonePrints, and you can load those slots with your own TonePrints created with the software editor, alongside Artist TonePrints and TC's factory options.
Is the PLETHORA X3 stereo?
Yes. gearnews.com's report on the X3 describes the unit as having MIDI and a full stereo I/O section, so it can take a stereo input and feed a stereo rig, including two amps or a stereo pedalboard downstream.
Sources (9)
- NAMM 2022: TC Electronic’s Plethora X3 brings TonePrint pedals to a compact multi-effects, Guitar.com, 2022-05-27
- PLETHORA X3, TC Electronic
- TC Electronic PLETHORA X3 TonePrint Pedalboard, Pedal of the Day, 2022-12-09
- TC Electronic Plethora X3 TonePrint Pedalboard review, Guitar World, 2022-12-12
- TC Electronic PLETHORA X3 smaller, yet still feature packed, gearnews.com, 2022-05-26
- PLETHORA X5, TC Electronic
- TC Electronic's Plethora X5 TonePrint Pedalboard might just be the multi-effects pedal you've been waiting for, Guitar World, 2020-02-20
- TC Electronic debuts the Plethora X3, a downsized version of its feature-packed multi-effects pedal, Guitar World, 2022-05-26
- The Big Review: TC Electronic Plethora X3, Guitar.com, 2022-06-30
