Radial Tonebone Loopbone Dual FX Loop Switcher Pedal

Manufacturer's Description for Radial Tonebone Loopbone Dual FX Loop Switcher Pedal

The Radial Loopbone is a powerful effects loop controller for pedal boards that allows the guitar player to insert 2 separate pedal effects chains and remove them when not in use. This is particularly advantageous when using older pedals that tend to add noise and cause loading problems in the signal chain. The Loopbone incorporates a superb 'post effects' variable gain power booster that allows for straight signal boosting or post loop-1 or loop-2 boost for soloing.

Features:
Master control for pedal boards

Insert and combine 2 separate effects loops

Built-in variable gain power booster

Unique Drag control pickup load correction

Separate tuner output is always on

SlingShot remote control output

100% discreet class-A circuit design

Ultra-compact design -- easy to use

To ensure the natural tone of the instrument is maintained, the Loopbone features Radial's unique Drag Control pickup load correction circuit that allows the guitarist to properly match the impedance load of any pedal board configuration with any guitar for optimum performance. Furthermore, there are no signal degrading op-amps or chips in the signal path, only 100% discreet components and Radial's highly acclaimed Class-A circuit for natural tone and exceptional dynamics.

Besides FX-loop switching, load matching and signal boost, the Loopbone brings even more to your pedal board: a separate 'always-on' tuner out circuit allows on-the-fly tuning without adding noise or load to your instrument signal, and perhaps the most innovative feature of all, Slingshot. Slingshot is Radial's unique remote switching system that allows the Loopbone to simultaneously switch amplifier channels or other amp features or even another Slingshot equipped device, such as the Radial Headbone head switcher or Radial Cabbone speaker cabinet switcher. Check out 'The Power of Slingshot' for details.

Designed as a 'master control' for the pedal board, the Loopbone is compact, easy to use and adds tremendous control over the pedal board making it a 'must have' for tone aficionados.

Loopbone Development
For over 50 years, guitarists have been trying achieve a balance between the flexibility of having multiple presets and dialing in the perfect tone for a particular song. This has lead hi-tech companies to develop some pretty nifty devices such as modeling and digital effects pedals. These technologies although wondrous, always seem to fall short for the purist and seem to somehow disconnect the player from his instrument. The end result is that serious guitar players inevitably yield to the allure of the venerable tube amplifier.

The holy grail of tube amps is in itself a misleading notion. As any player will attest, the closer you can get to connecting the guitar to the purity of a simple tube amp, the better the feel and the more inviting the tone. But without flexibility on stage, how can you get the job done?

For world-class concert level performers, the only solution has been an investment in expensive custom-made pedal board controllers. These allow a series of preset effect loops to be engaged using a combination pedal board and rack controller along with the prerequisite full-time guitar tech. But even at this level there are shortcomings - the more complex the system becomes, the greater the chance of it becoming a technical nightmare. The demand for smaller, more flexible systems forces engineers to use chips and op-amps which result in less than ideal tone. The fix becomes the problem and you end up chasing a point of diminishing returns.

This of course leads us to ask a few simple questions: What is it that guitarists really need? How many different tones are required to perform on stage? If the tones sway too far and wide, will the guitarist's personality get lost? How much noise is acceptable? Where should there be compromise?

Back in 1979, Radial invented the world's first 3-channel tube amplifier. It solved a problem. It provided the guitarist with a clean tone, a crunchy rhythm channel and a solo channel. Fast-forward 25 years and for the most part, this is still the most basic yet useful set-up. The Radial Loopbone goes back to their roots and brings forth a design that truly accomplishes what it was set out to do -- provide a simple tool that allows the guitarist to achieve flexibility without compromising tone.

Basic Guitar-Pedal Setups
Consider the most basic guitar set-up: A guitar, a good distortion pedal and guitar amplifier will give you a clean tone, an overdrive and with a second channel, you can likely get a pretty good solo tone.

The problems arise as soon as you introduce more pedals:
The natural tone and relationship between the pickup and the amplifier is lost -- all kinds of noise creeps into your signal path, the guitar level changes and for a fleeting moment those 'do-it-all-pre-packaged modeling-systems' that just sound 'good to average' become very appealing. Then you give your head a shake and ask yourself "..is there not a better way"?

The Loopbone Solution
Yes Grasshopper there is a better way, and that way is Loopbone. Loopbone solves all the above problems by introducing a master control interface that provides alternate signal paths for your 'love-'em and hate-'em' effect pedals and adds what has been called 'the very finest power booster on the planet' to boot. This clever bit of design accomplishes the prerequisite 'clean-rhythm-solo' setup multiplied by 2. Check it out:

With the Loopbone, your original guitar-to-distortion-to-amp set-up is suddenly transformed into a powerful tone control center. Effortlessly add 4 more tonal variations by simply clicking in the versatile variable-gain Class-A power boost. Add effect loops and you can create two completely different signal paths: with one dedicated to the ultimate solo patch for example, the other to weird effects. Best of all, when they're not needed, you can remove the noisy pedals from your signal chain with the click of a footwitch. Lovely!

The Loopbone is small! It fits in nicely right on your pedal board along with all of your effects. Did we mention how you can turn on and off various pedals to get set for a particular musical passage without actually hearing them until the loop is engaged? Now that's foot power!

Slingshot Remote control
If the Loopbone is truly going to be the center of the pedal board, it should be able to control other aspects of your guitar system. This triggered the concept of MIDI control without actually having to resort to taking a university course on programming. We call it Slingshot.

Slingshot is a remote control that employs the same basic functionality of the time-tested channel switching found on most guitar amplifiers. On the Loopbone, you can assign the Slingshot remote to any of the 2 effects loops or the power booster and when depressed, can cause a remote device to change status. You could for instance have your amp channel change when effects loop-1 is engaged. If you have a Radial Headbone, you could switch amp heads or with Cabbone, you could switch speaker cabinets and go from a 2-12 open back to a 4-12 half-stack.

Loopbone is truly a marvel that opens the door to tonal flexibility without introducing noise or altering the natural tone and dynamics of your instrument. zZounds is an authorized dealer of Radial products.

Dimensions and Weight in Packaging

Base Item

Shipping Weight: 4 lbs

Shipping Dimensions: 11 x 5 x 3 in