Radial Tonebone Cabbone Speaker Cabinet Switcher

Manufacturer's Description for Radial Tonebone Cabbone Speaker Cabinet Switcher

The Cabbone is a guitar amplifier cabinet switcher that connects between an amp head and 2 cabinets to allow the guitarist to transition between say a Fender 2x12 in. open back to a Marshall 4x12 in. slant while using the same amplifier head.

Features:
Guitar amp speaker cabinet switcher

Lets you toggle between 2 speaker cabinets

Digitally controlled relays with ramping overlap

Slingshot remote-control switching

SafeMode failsafe protection

Works with tube and solid state amplifiers

Cabbone uses high-performance, high-cycling, gold contact relays to switch the amp's speaker output to either cabinet without adding color to the tone. To ensure safe, stable amplifier operation and smooth transitions, switching is controlled by a timer IC that manages a ramped connection overlap. This ensures a constant load on the output, a major concern with tube amplifiers. As a further safety measure, the Cabbone incorporates a power-off feature called SafeMode which automatically diverts the input signal to output-1 if the power supply is ever disconnected or turned off by mistake.

To reduce the "cable spaghetti" between the the amplifier, speakers, pedal board and back, Cabbone is equipped with a Slingshot input and output - Slingshot is Radial's easy to use remote control system that allows any footswitch to toggle switching of remote devices using just regular 1/4 in. guitar cables. The Slingshot remote input can be controlled by either momentary or latching contact closure.

To add versatility, the Cabbone also incorporates a Slingshot output that can be used to remotely switch amp channels while switching cabinets. You could for instance connect the Slingshot remote output on the Radial Loopbone to toggle the Cabbone and go from a 2x12 in. open back to a 4x12 in. half-stack. Connecting the Slingshot output to the amp as well would allow you to change the amp channel at the same time, allowing each cabinet to have its own EQ and gain.

Add a Loopbone to the equation and with a single foot stomp you can introduce an effects loop, change speakers and change amp channels at the same time! Very cool! Now you can get those perfect tone combinations on stage quickly, and do it with one switch instead of a tap dance routine!

Like all Radial products, the Cabbone is built tough to handle the road: 14 gauge steel, baked enamel finish, high performance parts throughout. You get all of this in a compact enclosure that is ultra-quiet and completely transparent to the tone of your amp.

Cabbone -- another creative tool for making better music from the Tonebone tone fanatics at Radial.

Cabbone Development
For years, guitarists have been using AB boxes as a means to fulfill their "tonal desires." AB boxes let them transition between 2 very different amplifiers to achieve very different tones. As most guitarists know, dual-amp set-ups are absolutely wonderful. But alas, it is not always convenient to carry 2 complete amps to a gig. This led us to look into speaker cabinet switching as a solution. Interestingly enough, we soon realized that using the same head and switching the speaker cabinets could produce all kinds of amazing tones. Best of all Cabbone has emerged into intuitive tool for the guitarist that is easy to use.

Although the concept of switching speaker cabinets seems pretty simple, one look inside the Cabbone and you will see that there is a lot more to making this work than a simple toggle switch. In fact the footswitch does not switch the signal at all, it sends a toggle command to a programmable timing chip that in turn, sets the whole switching process into action. Why not just a simple switch? Well If it were that simple, there would be speaker switchers everywhere!

Let's consider the big picture first. The Cabbone requires you to connect one speaker cable from the amplifier head, and connect 2 more speaker cables from the Cabbone to each of the 2 speaker cabinets. On a big stage, it is both impractical and inefficient to run long speaker cables to and from a pedal board. This means that we need some type of remote control.

Next problem: Amplifiers need to see a load or else they will self-destruct. This is most critical with tube amplifiers. When in use, if they do not have a speaker connected to them, all kinds of problems can develop including blowing the output transformer and significantly reducing tube lifespan.

Final challenge: Power handling and tone preservation. Switching the output of a 100W head is serious business! The power has to be 'managed' in such a way as to ensure the electrical contacts do not arc while ensuring the amp sees a speaker load even if disaster occurs. And of course messing with the tone is simply out of the question. With Cabbone The show 'will' go on and it will sound right! Here's how it's done:

The Cabbone is absolutely stuffed with components including 2 high performance relays. When you hit the Cabbone's footswitch, it sends a change command to a programmable timing chip. This in turn sends a command to each of the relays turning one on and then moments later, turning the other off. The timed overlap ensures the amp sees a constant load, thus is protected from damage. Furthermore, in the unlikely event that the Cabbone's power is shut off, a default setting we call 'Safe Mode' springs into action that connects the amp to speaker output No.1, providing your amp with a safety net of sorts. Smart.

Of course the other huge advantage to using a timed relay solution is that we can introduce a remote control to do the work of the footswitch. You transition from your open back 2x12 in. Jensens to your 4-12 Celestions and you begin to see the possibilities. This gets you thinking. If I could have separate EQ and gain for each cabinet, this thing would really rock! So you try to use one foot to switch the Cabbone and your other foot to switch your amp channel, lose your balance, fall over and break the neck on your old Gibson SG Junior Dang! There's got to be a better way without having to resort to a complex MIDI set-up.

We call it Slingshot. Slingshot is an easy to use remote control system that is based around simple footswitches and guitar cables. Just about any footswitch or MIDI control device can be connected to the Cabbone to remotely toggle the Cabbone's speaker outputs. The Cabbone's Slingshot circuit is equipped with both an input and an output. This means that you can use a footswitch on your pedal board to toggle the Cabbone's speaker output and then have the Cabbone send a status change command to your guitar amp and have it switch channels at the same time. With a single foot action -- 2 completely different worlds of tone emerge. Way cool! zZounds is an authorized dealer of Radial products.