Tonebone Bassbone

Very easy to use, just plug and play. I really wanted to love it; a great idea but very poor preamps and circuitry. Maybe it's great if you have a cheap passive bass without much EQ or output, but for a pro it's a joke.

Horrible tone-sucking pedal. I can't believe the list of artists who claim to use it. I A/B'ed it with the Loopbone, the Loopbone is transparent and perfectly translates your sound, with it's Class-A circuitry. THe Bassbone sucks SO much tone AND volume out of your instrument. I use top of the line basses, pickups and preamps and this thing is a joke. I do NOT recommend it to anyone who cares about what their bass actually sounds like.
I like the preset contours on Channel One, good slap mid-scoop sound in there.
I need to crank the volume almost all the way to even get close to what my bass sounds like plugged straight into my Demeter HBP-201 preamp.
This thing sucks, I actually will not accept that those cats actually use it, I know they have ears, come on, it's Will Lee and Nathan East, John Patitucci, etc, it robs your tone and volume. Horrible.

Seems very well built to last forever as a tone-sucking stompbox (shudders)

I'm taking it back; the LOOPBONE sounds awesome though! Radial products range from horrible to awesome. This thing is horrible. If it doesn't even translate my VOLUME much less TONE, than it is useless. I really wanted to love it, maybe with your rig it sounds great, but my Bartolini pickups-John East preamp-Demeter preamp-QSC 3400 watt power amp--Accugroove Tri 112s/Tri 110 sound puts it to dust (wipes hand clean, shudders). I just want a clean, transparent CLass A channel switcher to change basses.

Simple as pie to use, although it may look slightly complicated to begin with. The manual isn't too bad. Just tweak away!

I'm using a Warwick 5 string Thumb Bass and a hybrid Fender/Warmoth 8 string Bass into an Eden VT300 head into a 410XLT cabinet. I'm a gear head who's been going through gear for 27 years looking for the elusive perfect tone. When I recieved this unit it has a couple of specific eq curves preset into channel 1 that states that they are some of the most sought after sounds out there. After plugging into it I was pleasantly surprised to find that one of them was what I had considered as my signature sound. A+ for that! Since it has the ability to plug in two basses with seperate gain and eq curves I was impressed because now I could plug both my active Warwick in one channel and my passive 8 string in the other and get the same output to my amp. I've played live and recorded with this unit for about 1 year and I am still happy. The only weakness I can find is that I crave just a little more headroom than it has. But I beat the snot out of my basses.

No problem with reliablity here. It's built like a tank! I have had a problem every now and then with the switches not engaging every time on at least two occasions but then again I might have just been exited at the gig.

Overall rating is a good solid 8. I would probably not rate anything as a 10. I've been playing for 27 years both professionally and whenever possible. If it were stolen or lost I would have to buy another one or track down and murder the thief. This thing is just jam-packed with features. I've tried about ever other directbox pre amp out there and I'd say feature for feature this is a must own if you are a professional player.

Laid out well. Easy to understand.

My setup is pretty simple. An active bass (Pedulla Thunderbolt); a passive bass (Epiphone Rumblecat) into an SWR Interstellar Overdrive tube Pre-amp. I also use a Boss bass chorus. I was hopibng that this would be THE ANSWER for me and it is targeted for people using an active bass, a passive bass, and effects. The problem: this unit lowers the gain of your instrument (as verified with a VU meter) even with the volume controls maxed out. On a more subjective levels, it sucks away some tone, althought this could have been a result of the the volume drop it caused. I find this unacceptable and sent it back to the retailer it was purchased from.

It is well built and looks very sturdy.

They immedialty responded to my e-mails. I am sure that they are nice folks and I wish that I could give the unit high marks in all regards, but it just did not perform well for me.

As described above, it took away tone. No matter how great the build quality, no matter how awesome the features, no matter how responsive the customer service, if it doesn't transmit the sound, it doesn't make it on the pedalboard.

Very "retro" user friendly. As long as you're not expecting it to be something it's not, it'll give you all you need and more!

Sounds great! I have 5 basses ranging from passive Fenders to a neck-thru 6-string. Functions beautifully with everything, but is especially beneficial to my 5-string passive Fender. I'd been looking for a pedal preamp in the vein of a Sadowsky or an Aguilar. I demo'd the Bassbone against the Aguilar and felt the e.q. blew the Aguilar away! It's very quiet even at extreme boost settings.

The thing's a tank. With reasonable use, it should outlast me!

I've emailed them with questions - such as the issue with the boost / mute function (seems that originally it was meant to function as a mute with the boost turned all the way down, but doesn't actually work that way. They opted for a better quality boost circuit over a multi-use function - good choice!). They answered my email and answered all my questions!

I play a full range of material from Rock to R&B. I've been finding myself increasingly involved in situations that require quick setup, minimal amplification or in-ears; and having a high quality "Swiss Army" sort of pedal I can throw in a gig bag - or in a pocket on a bass bag - to be invaluable. I'm putting a pedalboard together using things like a Demeter Compulator, a Peterson StroboStomp, T.C. Elec. SCF, etc., and the Bassbone is the perfect starting point!

Easy to use. Can switch from one instrument to another. Has a separate tone for channel 2 which over rides the amp's pre. A balanced output, A separate gain switch and a loop for your effects. Also a contour shape switch which cuts the mids. Sounds like alot huh! Well a few of the them work well and some not so good. But it has alot of features to choose from for a unit at this price but I guess you get what you pay for.

First of all it is not so quite. Even when you set the separate gain low its still sends out a hum. The lift switch does nothing. It has a hum. I used the second channel for my upright bass. The tone control for this is pretty bad. I don't care what it sounds like for my electric bass as i have a demeter pre and a TC electronic parametric. So I really don't think it would be of any use for my electric. It states it has the fender traditional style tone, but that is far from correct. The Alembic F2B has that but not this unit. I feel it boost the 2 k and makes the high end sound clacky. The mid and bass aren't that good either. The unit is not that bad tonewise when used as a direct box. That I would give an 8. The rest a 5.

Built well. But I have it only for a month.

Never called.

I would get a separte eq for the basses and use a no frills a/b box.

Had a usable sound in under 30 sec. , had 2 great tones in under 2 min !

I'm currently using this Bassbone with one bass so it acts as a 2 channel pre-amp. The sound out of the XLR out is extremely clean and able to be used in studio settings. Channel 2's EQ voicings are great and very powerful, from subtle to radical changes but all usable out of the little 3 band EQ. The boost function adds no colour to your tone only a boost in dbs. As well, I'm using this as my pre-amp for an in-ear monitors set-up and I was finally able to truly hear the difference between coil tap settings on my pick-up... very lean pedal!

Have only had it a week but am taking it out on the road in a matter of days. But by the looks of things it's a tank. Very solid steel chasis and the knobs are very sturdy, alot more sturdy than knobs on alot of other pedals. And the foot switches seem to be very heavy duty, should be stomping for years to come.

Amazing... very easy to deal with and very ready to help the customer.

I play alot of different style and everything from fretted to fretless to upright bass.The Radial Tonebone "Bassbone" is a pedal/pre-amp/DI that is pretty much an all-in-one tone box. Quite simple to use and just straight ahead plug and play tone regardless of the bass you're plugging in. Should be one in every bassists rig!