30 Pedals in 30 Days: Radial ToneBone Plexitube

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Don’t forget to check out the video at the bottom of the page. 

Radial Engineering is a top shelf company that hasn’t been getting the credit they deserve for their pedals. At TheToneKing.com, we see all of the big names using Radial switching behind the scenes, and there’s a good reason for that. People trust them.

Lately, though, Radial pedals have been gaining ground with the Tonebone Plexitube. This two-channel tube distortion pedal has been around for about seven years, and it’s starting to become a modern classic. For 30P30D, TheToneKing.com had a chance to check out the Plexitube and to see if it lives up to the Radial name.

Tube distortion is the best distortion.

You’re not going to hear many people arguing against that.

While circuit boards always react the same way no matter what, tubes react differently depending on what moves through them. That’s why you get more organic responses from a tube than a circuit board. If you hit harder, the tube is driven harder, and if you lighten up your touch, the tube’s response is going to reflect that.

Of course, what’s the biggest advantage for tubes in the preamp section can be the biggest pitfall in the power amp section. Depending on how your amp is cranked, your tone is going to change dramatically. Which is why everybody usually has to crank their amps to get the sounds that they’re looking for.

Radial’s Plexitube has the best of both worlds.

A 12AX7 preamp tube gives Radial’s Plexitube warmth and harmonic response while a multi-stage solid-state drive circuit gives it saturation and control. The result is a warm, rich distortion that stays consistent at any volume. You can blast the Plexitube on stage in front of thousands of people, or you can play it in your living room without pissing off the neighbors. And, your sound will stay the same.

Of course you’ve come for the Plexi, that unmistakable British tone that continues to be one the world’s most revered sounds. With Radial’s unique passive-interactive EQ, you’ll get sounds from four generations of Marshall Plexi amps. All of which the player can customize using the Plexitube’s wide-ranging controls.

Radial’s Plexitube is equipped with High, Low, Contour, and Drive knobs to customize your sound. You can also enhance your tone with the global top-end three-way selector switch that gives you Bright, Dark, or Flat voicings. To top it off, you can boost the overall Mids with 12db or 7db boost, or you keep the Mid boost out of your sound altogether. Whether you need a muddy saturated chunk or you need to rip apart an eardrum or two, Radial’s Plexitube is versatile enough to handle it all.

Two channels keep it easy to jump from face-punching chunky riffs on Channel 1 to skin-melting leads on Channel 2. Each channel has its own dedicated Level and Contour as well as its own independent three-way EQ switch. Channel 1 has options for Fat or two Scooped parameters. While Channel 2 has a Flat, Scooped, or Out voicings. Channel 1 is optimized for chunky bone-crushing rhythms by scooping the mids. Channel 2 is where you go to shred.

True bypass ensures that when the Plexitone is not on, all you hear is straight, unobstructed tone. The Effects Loop can be set to engage when you switch channels.

And, of course, the thing’s built like a tank. Because when you’re drunk, cranked up on adrenaline, and thrashing around during a blistering two-hour set, the last thing you’re going to be with your equipment is delicate.

Normally, with a Plexi, you have to have the head cranked to sound good. It’s a certainty in the universe. Then, to make sure your wife and neighbors don’t kill you, you have to buy an attenuator, which usually ends up changing the tone that you were searching for in the first place. So, besides the $1,500 – $2,500 bones you shelled out for the Plexi, you’ve spent another $500 for the attenuator. If you’re looking for something that is going to give you those Plexi sounds at manageable volumes, then Radial’s ToneBone Plexitube is the pedal you’ll want to check out.

On the old TheToneking.com vids, people would always comment how much they loved the Radial pedals. And, it seems that everybody else is starting to notice what we’ve known since day one: Radial pedals are top shelf tone.

 

For prices on the ToneBone Plexitube and all Radial gear, check out: Sweetwater.com

Click here to enter into TheToneKing.com’s 30 Pedals in 30 Days Randall Give-Away! 

Official RD1C Give-Away Page: https://thetoneking.com/gear-give-away/2013-2/randall-rd1c-give-away/

Randall Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/randallamplifiers

Product Page: http://www.tonebone.com/tb-plexitube.htm

Unboxing Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl5qCH3qJ68

Official Full-On Demo & Reviewhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrCGjHuRv74

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrCGjHuRv74′]

 

 

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About the Author: Marc published his first novel Becoming in 2010. It’s a kick-ass book with monsters and dreams and stuff, and you should buy it. Since then, he’s written thousands of articles for TheToneKing.com, many of which have been picked up for circulation by manufacturers and other news outlets. His next book, Drugs and Pancakes, should be available early 2014 if his alcoholic editor can find time to work on it in-between destroying his liver and screaming about punctuation. He graduated from Roosevelt University with honors, which means that he’s not as dumb as he looks. He’s been playing guitar for over 25 years, which is almost twice as long as most of his students have been alive.

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