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The number of pedals in a chain is usually limited by how these will load
down the guitar pickups. Since the Loopbone employs a buffer to drive
the pedals, you can use as many as you like. The only issue is noise.
The more devices you put in a chain, the more susceptible to noise your
pedal chain will be.
Yes, the Loopbone employs a series of buffers that make up the Class-A
pre-amplifying circuit. The buffering allows the Loopbone to drive pedals
without loading and allows more than one loop to be used at once without
affecting the guitar’s output level.
This is both true and untrue. In the perfect world, a guitar pickup should
be connected directly to the amplifier with no pedals in between. But
when a pedal like the Loopbone is inserted, this device needs to perform
various functions such as dividing the signal to various signal paths
we call effects loops. If we did not buffer the circuit, the guitar pickup
would have to drive more than one effect loop at a time and this would
cause the power going to each effect loop to be cut in half. Turn your
guitar down when driving a distorted signal and you will immediately notice
less sustain and less overdrive. This necessitates the use of buffers
in the signal path. We developed a very clean Class-A circuit and introduced
Drag Control to counter any effect that the circuit may have on the guitar.
The results is a cleaner, more natural tone with all of the subtleties
and dynamics that folks have come to expect when they purchase a Radial
product.
When a guitar is connected directly to an amplifier, the guitar pickup
and the amplifier form a circuit. It is the relationship between the amp
and the way that it loads down the pickup that creates its distinct sound.
In buffered circuits, we introduce a pre-amplifier in between the pickup
and the amp and this eliminates the load on the pickup. Drag Control allows
the guitarist to reintroduce a corrective load into the signal path and
bring back the natural relationship that would otherwise be lost.
The term true-bypass comes from problems associated with some pedals that
even when off, have the effect of loading down the pickup. This means
that instead of 100% of the signal bypassing the effect pedal, some of
it is absorbed into the pedal even when it is not being used. The perfect
‘true-bypass’ switch would be one that completely disconnects
the pedals PC board and circuit from the signal path. Unfortunately, this
type of mechanical switching causes pops in the audio path when switched
in and out.
Relays are a good solution as they are in fact remotely controlled mechanical
switches. The problem however with a mechanical switch is transient switch
noise caused by the contact. We use relays in several Radial products,
but relegate these to applications where the signal will no longer be
amplified such as when switching speakers. For devices that pass audio
before a guitar amplifier, we prefer to use photocells. Photocells can
be used to perform various functions and in this case, we use them like
a switch with a set ramp-up and ramp-down time. This means that the signal
does not ‘click’ on but actually rises to an ‘on’
status, eliminating the transient. Older Fender and Mesa-Boogie amps switched
channels using this same technique, but today have veered off to other
electronic switching methods due to the very high cost of photocells.
The most basic amplifier design is a Class-A circuit. Class-A circuits
employ a single amplifying device such as a tube or transistor to create
a gain increase by amplifying both the positive and negative portion of
the audio signal. Class-AB or B amplifiers employ two separate gain stages
whereby one amplifies the positive side of the wave and the other, the
negative side. The two halves are rectified or brought back together to
create the final output stage. Class-B amplifiers are much more efficient
but have the trade-off of being less natural sounding. This is caused
by the impossibility in bringing the two waves back together in perfect
sync. The effect is known as zero-cross distortion to signify the zero
point where the plus waves and minus waves meet. This causes other artifacts
such as phase distortion, which when combined, have the effect of increasing
inter-modulation distortion.
Class-A circuits on the other hand are big, noisy and inefficient. This
puts added pressure on the circuit designer to come up with a solution
that works. Hi-impedance guitars with those single coil, noise-attracting
pickups are arguably the most demanding of all. This means that you need
to have real talent and tons of experience to develop a Class-A circuit,
make it sound right and perform without noise. This is where Radial is
ahead of the pack and is why our products are so well liked by professionals.
No, not really. To properly and safely perform ABY switching, one should
have isolated outputs such as found on the Radial Switchbone and the Radial
JD7. Keep in mind that amplifiers can often be floating several hundred
volts around their circuitry and if not connected properly, can lead to
an electric shock. The Loopbone’s output in theory could be connected
to two amplifiers and perform switching, but we would recommend that you
have a qualified technician be on hand to ensure that the amps are properly
grounded and the connection is safe.
No, not really. Once again, you should have an isolated output if you
intend to drive more than one amp at a time. Also, the tuner output is
on all the time and is unlikely to provide you with any benefit that could
not be realized using the Loopbone the way it was designed to be used.
Yes. Because the Loopbone incorporates a Class-A buffering circuit, you
can drive much longer cable runs with less noise than if you are connected
directly from the guitar to the amp. We recommend a maximum distance of
50 feet.
Yes and no. Most traditional style amplifiers will work with the Slingshot
but there are surely some amp designs that do not follow convention. If
you are not sure, consult your Tonebone dealer or have a technician look
at your amp to see if it can be adapted to be compatible.
If your amp employs a basic foot switch with a ¼” jack, it
will in all likelihood be compatible. If it employs some type of multipin
connector or telephone style jack, it probably will not.
Yes. All you do is insert a simple on-off mechanical switch in one of
the loops and when you want to tune, hit the switch before you activate
the loop. This will eliminate any contact switch noise from the mechanical
switch. When the song stops, hit the loop and your signal will be muted.
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