Loopbone Class-A Pedal Controller Joins Tonebone Line
January 30, 2004
In response to the growing demand for pedal board flexibility, Radial Engineering announced the Tonebone Loopbone combination guitar effect loop selector and Class-A power booster to its line of Tonebone guitar effect pedals.
The Tonebone Loopbone is a compact foot pedal with three switches that allows one to turn on two separate effect loop pedal chains and a built-in power booster. Using the Loopbone is easy. The guitar input features Radial's Drag Control that allows the musician to dial in the exact amount of pick-up loading he desires for the most natural sound. It is important to note that the Loopbone is in fact an active device that buffers the guitar signal. Drag Control reintroduces the relationship between the pick-up and amplifier that would otherwise be lost.
Borrowing the same Class-A circuitry found in the Radial JD7 Injector, the Loopbone employs 100% discreet components (no opamps!) for the lowest possible distortion and most natural sound. Class-A circuits are preferred over opamps in audiophile systems as they do not degrade the audio.
The Loopbone features two effect loops with standard 1/4" send and return jacks for the pedals. This allows the guitarist to set up a clean direct sound, a rhythm setting using effect loop-1, and a crunch or solo setting using effect loop-2. This provides the important benefit of allowing the guitarist to use those older noisy yet interesting effect pedals and remove them from the audio chain when they are not required. Either of the loops may be engaged separately or used in series to create new and exciting effects.
A separate Class-A power booster features variable gain while providing a boost and added front-end saturation for amplifiers to add that extra grind or boost as needed. The power-booster is wired post-loops to allow any of the effect-loops to be boosted when engaged. To eliminate popping, a series of photocells are employed. Unlike relays that cause connection spikes, photocells provide noiseless switching by ramping up the signal voltage. This provides a smooth no-pop transition even when performing at concert levels according to the company. There is also a separate 'always-on' tuner output to allow constant monitoring while removing that 'tone robbing' tuner from the audio path.
The introduction of the Loopbone coincides with the introduction of a new remote controllable pedal interconnect system called 'the SlingShot'. The concept behind Radial's SlingShot is an easy to use, remote control system that the Loopbone to remotely switch another device such as the CabBone cabinet switcher using a regular 1/4" to 1/4" guitar cable. The Loopbone's SlingShot outputs may be assigned to switch the amplifier channel by depressing any of the loop-1, loop-2 or boost foot switches. The SlingShot offers a choice of momentary or latching options to match most guitar manufacturer's operating systems.
For more information, visit their web site at www.tonebone.com. | 
