30 Pedals in 30 Days 2014: Radial Engineering Tonebone Elevator

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Most boost pedals have two levels, on and not. Sure, no matter how much versatility that pedal gives you when it’s on, you’re still stuck with one tone. Players looking for a volume boost and gain boost usually had to buy multiple pedals for different levels of boost. Leave it to the guys and girls at Radial Engineering to come up with something new. For 30 Pedals in 30 Days 2014, TheToneKing.com rides Radial Engineering’s Tonebone Elevator Multi-Level Boost all the way up for top floor tone.

With multiple levels of boost and buffering at its disposal, the Elevator offers more variety than just about any other boost pedal out there.

The words “True-Bypass” are comforting. Some people are soothed to sleep knowing that their kids are safe. Me? When I know that, if I want it, I can get a true, direct signal path from my guitar to my amp, I sleep like a baby. On the ground floor of the Elevator, Level-1, that’s what you’ll find.

Now, we know there’s a lot of battling going on over the whole ‘to buffer, or not to buffer’ question. Well, Radial Engineering isn’t telling you what to do with your tone; they’re just giving you the option. Level-2 of the Elevator activates “a unity gain buffer that will drive your guitar signal 15 meters (50’) without noise.”

On Level-3, you’ll find Radial Engineering’s own Drag Control load correction circuit. Even if your signal path is buffered, it still experiences a change due to the long path it has to take through a bunch of pedals until it finally gets to your amp. The Drag Control corrects that and replicates the “tone and feel” of being directly plugged into your amp.

I like to call Level-4 the “bring it on” level. That’s where you’ll get your first taste of sweet, sweet boost. This ‘baseline’ power boost will push the front end of your amp to give your tone some teeth. A single recessed control varies between a gentle nudge to a full on punch to the face.

Level-5 in this tower of tone offers an 18dB power boost so that you can finally get out from underneath your drummer who doesn’t understand the meaning of the word “finesse.” Activated using a footswitch, this is pure gain boost help your solos cut through the mix like a machete.

Level-6 is the penthouse. A three-position mid boost switch for extra sustain. Many amps soak up those chimey mids that give guitars so much character. The Elevator helps correct that and allows your tone to breathe by accentuating these frequencies. Sustain for days? Check!

Whether it’s a vintage amp that doesn’t produce much gain or a new amp with plenty of gain to spare, Radial Engineering’s Elevator will dynamically vitalize your tone. Completely discrete, class-A circuit, 18dB boost, buffering, Drag Control load correction, and enough control to create a truly custom tone, Radial Engineering really went all out on this one. There are plenty of boost pedals out there but few offer as much as this one. Radial Engineering’s Tonebone Elevator was definitely worth riding to the top for us here at TheToneKing.com during 30 Pedals in 30 Days 2014.

 

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[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCl0nznUjgs’]

 

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Filed Under: FeaturedPedals3P3D-2014

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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