Tonebone Hot-British Distortion

It's a no brainer!! Versatile controls at your fingertips!

I use it with tons of amps as I gig quite often. Mainly at home I use it with a Blackheart half stack and a Marshall JCM 800 half stack. Produces great sounding classic distortion from AD/DC to Metallica to even My Chemical Romance kinda distortion! Amazing shiat comes out from this box. Adding a Tubescreamer in front adds more crunch and attack to it which enabled it to go even further. Sounds thick and warm with great highs and amazing harmonics and picking sounds. I use a Fender Tele Japan and a Gibson 56 reissue Goldtop as my main axes and it's a really sweet combination.

Gigged with this many times over the past 2 years. No problems at all except for some slight scratches on the casing, other than that.... this thing could be thrown around and it would still be working.

Never gave me any problems so I've never dealt with them.

Great pedal for any kind of music but for me, blues and classic rock to classic metal, this pedal can get all the sounds. If you can't bring around a tube amp, this is the pedal to achieve tube sounding distortion.

Theres heaps of knobs and switches but that isn't a problem.

OK this is why i wanted review it!

Yes it would be much better with a noisegate,eq and different tubes!

BUT you shouldn't have to buy all these to make it sound any good!

It should as good as the company described it!

It is basicly just ment for good clean amplifiers

LISTEN KIDS WHO EVER, THIS IS NOT A SUBSITUTE FOR HI GAIN TUBE AMPILFIE

IT WILL NOT MAKE YOUR SOLID STATE 15 WATT AMP SOUND LIKE ONE!

trust me i know :P

the knobs variate to make some good sounds but the TONE in general all isn't up to my standards!

By the way it's worth about $400 Australian over here...

Trust me on this it's built like a brick!

I give great Kudos on that!

I have dropped it now a fews times after i found out it was not what i quite intended it to sound like and it still strong, the tube is still fine after all that too.

Contact with them is great!

But the advice the give is pathetic.

I emailed them, to see if my pedal was broken or something.

When I select to neck pickup and put it on full drive it sounds digusting!

The company just said ease of the volume on your guitar and it should be fine!

All that did was make lower in volume and lower in distortion!

Thats not what i wanted. I wanted it to be high gain for a reason!

I play metal rock and some blues licks

it's good for rock and blues in a sense, metal it has no hope! sounds like crap with full drive!

Ive had it for about a yar now.

I have a Squier Strat*, Epiphone G400 with Dimebucker,Ibanez Custom made Blazer series, fender front man 15 watt, digitech rp80


I have played the TONEBONE THROUGH A PEAVEY 6505 with cabs and a MARSHALL DSL with cab- to try and see the diffence

that's why i came to write this haha

I would say this pedal is easy to use. It comes with quite many knobs and switches, but they do what they say they do. No surprises. The manual is all right, but you won't need it. Same one for the Classic distortion and Hot British also.

I would say this pedal is easy to use. It comes with quite many knobs and switches, but they do what they say they do. No surprises. The manual is all right, but you won't need it. Same one for the Classic distortion and Hot British also.

This pedal had, when I got it a somewhat moderate variety of sounds coming out of it. Of course it sound great when you just got it. And after a few months I would rather play the amp clean then with the hot British plugged in. No matter the settings it always sounded as the amp was put in closed box, really thin and without punch. It was way to early to change the tube, but I thought I'd give it a shot before cursing it to h*ll (It's an expensive pedal so you except it to deliver). I???m my case switching to a Svetlana tube made all the difference. Sounds great! No loss in tone when switched on. Bluesy, rocky and metalish.

I use this with a one channel tube amp (Laney LC15R). The amp does not have much gain, and the two get along very well. This combination works better with passive pups tho. Never found Active ones could use the dynamics.

The metal housing seems really solid. Don't know about dropping it...

Haven't talked to them

Does start of with some distortion even if you're really soft on picking and volume is rolled down. Other than that this pedal covers most areas except the level of distortion where you no longer hear the cords. Great sound, tho expensive and the two channel version is even more expensive...

As distortion pedals go, this is one of the more tricky ones. Speaking from about 3 years of experience with the Hot British, you can find awful sounds and you can find phenomenal tones from this box! The tube you use in it will also make some difference in the overall sound (naturally, right?). Now, this is not to say it's as difficult to use as a programmable preamp like a Triaxis, but because of the extreme range of the controls on the Hot British, it can sometimes be difficult to dial in a tone. You definitely must spend some time dialing this box in.

Ok. Here's the deal: Use an EQ after this pedal! As of now, I'm using a Boss EQ pedal in my chain immediately after the Hot British, and to put it mildly, it makes an enormous difference in tone! The Hot British by its lonesome tends to be thin and harsh sounding to my ears. It gets especially bad in lower tunings or when using 7 strings or baritone guitars. Without and outboard eq, the distortion takes on a very JCM-800 gnarl. That's a good thing for some, though not for me, and certainly not for tunings below D. In fact, the first year I had this pedal, I was quite frustrated with it and very nearly tossed it. Then I read a few posts online about using EQ pedals after a distortion box in your signal chain and decided to give it a try. Holy Balls! Death metal, black metal, van halen, greasy single-coil SRV tone, and a lot more were instantly at my fingertips! Lower tunings are absolutely no problem anymore!

However, you must be aware that this pedal has a few problems. First, while I applaud Radial for using quality tubes, the JJ 12AX7's that come standard in the Hot British are not the right choice for the distortion this box is capable of. Try an Electro Harmonix instead and you'll see what I mean. The JJ actually reduced the overall amount of gain of the Hot British with no appreciable difference in tone. Maybe I had a bad one, but I had a similar problem when I switched to JJ's in a combo I played as well, so I'm inclined to think JJ's are inherently less gainful than other preamp tubes. Also note, that the Hot British has difficulty nailing mid-gain tones. Even at lower gain settings, the distortion is too thick (compressed?) for that edge-of-gain type of tone. You'd be better of using a boost pedal or your amps own overdrive characteristics for achieving that type of sound.

But, if over-the-top metal and blues is your thing, take my advice, throw an EQ in the line after the Hot British, and run it into a good, clean tube amp (I'm using a Heritage Patriot and it's out of this world!), and you have yourself a very, very respectable rig.

I would not advise using this pedal with a high gain head or combo. They're usually voiced way too cold (especially Mesas, VHT, Peavey, etc.) for the Hot British to work very well. The Hot British works better with a mellow tube amp than with solid states or really tight sounding tube amps (such as many of the newer Marshalls or Krank heads). In other words, you need something in your poweramp section that will take some of the bite off of this pedal.

Also, for those complaining that this pedal is noisy...get a noise gate for christ's sake! Gobs of gain=noisy. Duh! Try to find me any pedal, head, or combo that doesn't get noisier as you crank the gain. Sheesh.

I practically destroyed this pedal and it still sounds great...it's a long...and embarassing...story.

It's rugged beyond my expectations.

Dunno. Haven't bothered with them.

It's sort of like this: Distortion pedals suck. They all have problems. None of them can really compare to full-on poweramp distortion coming out of a cranked tube amp and a stack of speakers a mile high. But let's face it--the vast majority of us don't have the space or the neighborhood to allow us to play such a rig...at least without legal ramifications. So, almost all of us will have to compromise on our tone for the sake of economy and practicality. That being said, many of us are using lower-power combos and more preamp distortion than our arena rock compatriots. Of all the super-distortion pedals out there for us lowly neighborhood rockers, the Hot British beats just about anything for high gain. So really, I guess I'm saying that the Hot British is a necessary evil. Would I rather have a monster rack or an old Marshall at full volume? Yep. Who wouldn't? But my rig right now makes the most sense for my budget and for my environment. I'm quite pleased. Most of you reading this will be too if you follow my advice on the EQ pedal.

There's a shitload of combinations to this pedal as it has the switches aswell as the normal bass, treble and contour controls, so it does take a bit of tweaking to get what you want, but it's not rocket science.

I bought this pedal because i'd sold my marshall DSL100 and bought a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and i wanted to make the Fender sound like my Marshall dirty (the clean is epic). Well first of all it doesn't have as much gain as i thought it would, to be honest I don't really put the gain above 12 o'clock because after that it can get a bit muddy, at 12 o'clock it's a classic rock sound, maybe Guns n Roses style gain, no more.
To turn it into a full dirt sound i had to use my Carl Martin kick boost to metal it up, together they sound great but on it's own the Tonebone is a bit limited.
It's a strange sounding pedal, sometimes it can sound great, and others it can sound a bit thin, the guitar you use affects the tone massively - for example I've played my Peavey Wolfgang through it and had really good deep crunch think Tool, but then played my strat through it and it's sounded a bit flappy.

Overall I'd say that through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe it sounds good, but not as good as I'd been led to believe by some reviews on here. For rythym it's not great, but for lead sounds it really comes to life.

Only had it about 6 months, no problems as yet, it seems very well put together.

n/a

I'd love to try it through a different amp, something more suited to a good distorted sound, but part of me thinks well if I have to buy a Marshall for this thing to sound good, i don't then need a pedal which sounds like a Marshall !!! if you know what i mean.

It's better than everything else i tried, but i'm still far from convinced.

Sure, easy to use, no problem here.

I didn't own it long enough to comment.

I didn't have to deal with the company.

I have been playing for over 25 years. I play anything from Robben Ford type stuff, to older Dokken, Van Halen. etc. One of my favorite guitar sounds is on Don Dokken's "up from the ashes" ripping boosted vintage Plexi tone all the way, ragged, crunchy, warm and bright in all the right places, check it out even if you hate the music. Tone! Tone! Tone! Back off the distortion and use your fingers! Stop the insanity!

easy enough, good marks here

I've been playing for over 25 years. Don Dokken's "up from the ashes" has one of my favorite distorted guitar sounds ever; warm, raggedy ripping old Plexi Marshall tone to the nines. Crunchy, warm and bright in all the right places. Check it out even if you hate the band. I play from Robben Ford type stuff, to Dokken-like or old Van Halen type older metal stuff. You get the idea. Tone! Tone! Tone! Let your fingers do some of the work, back off the gain! Stop the insantity!

First I would like to say that I agree with the guy below me. This pedal has gotten raving reviews.. and alot of people jump on the bandwagon to buy this pedal. But the longer I play this pedal the more I realize its shortcomings. In my opinion this pedal is NOT very versatile. I have fiddled with the settings for hours and still come out with like 2-3 basic useable settings. I have to keep the gain really low or it gets muddy and sounds disgusting. I even went on the website and tried all the factory settings and still did not get desirable results.

My main complaint is that this unit is noisy when on. I have a custom built hand wired mojave head and a PRS so my rig is dead quiet at full volumes.. except for when i activate this pedal. I guess when your playing its not very noticable but as soon as the band stops there is that obnoxious buzzing sound. In my opinion sound quality itself is up to the discretion of the user. Someone who has played on a crappy transistor practice amp thier whole life will think this sounds awesome. The other thing i dont like is how it gets so muddy when the gain is set higher. Any setting past 10 o clock is overkill and takes away from the from the over all sound.

I bought it used and have had it for over a year no problems

I have gotten some great tones out of this unit at lower volumes but for live situations it has its limitations. It is definately a usable and pleasing product but it is not the holy grail of distortion tone as it is made out to be.

Easy enought to use, all is self explanitory.

I think it?s about time someone submitted an opposing viewpoint on this thing. I got so excited about this from all the reviews both here and in magazines that I raced down to a local shop and bought one on the spot. I own a Marshall Plexi 50 reissue with PPI master installed and old Marshall 412 cab. I play a Strat with Duncan Single Coils and an 80?s Charvel with Dimarzio Airzone or something like that. As soon as I plugged in I immediately knew what I was playing through: A direct rip off of the old SansAmp GT-2 pedal. This is not a distortion stomp box, but subminiature transistor preamp with a tube used for nothing more than a pilot light. The sound was ok for low volume riffing but it is synthetic sounding and does not blend into your amp, instead it completely obscures the basic sound of your amp. The louder I played the more transistory and synthetic it got. To be fair, I can see why it's popular. At low volume it makes a big sound with satisfying bass and I guess if you have a little combo amp that is as non-marshall as you can get (seems to be the case with majority of the raves here) and you have not played a real boosted Marshall in a long time (if ever) then you might think this is great. But into a REAL Marshall that only gets up to mild grind levels on its own, you might has well be playing it direct in to the PA. Yes, the distortion has a fairly steady, solid nature to it, but again the texture of the distortion is very plastic and unnatural sounding and again, worse the louder you play. It IS voiced well for guitar. Also, it is very articulate consistant sounding from top to bottom (no mushy woofy bass or screetching highs) and that was the one thing I really liked about the SansAmp, But I still say this is so close the sound of the SansAMP GT-2 that these guys must have directly ripped off the GT-2 circuit because the similarity in distortion character and voicing is just too close for coincidence. THAT I do not respect. In summary, a fun toy for the bedroom, but not a pro unit. The Classic which I tried later was smoother and less plastic sounding, but still the same syndrome of a "hostile take over" of the foundation tone of the amp you play it into. Rating this is tough, because as a stomp box distortion which is how it is marketed, I give it a 3. As mini transistor pre-amp designed to imitate a big Marshall amp, I would give it an E for effort were it not for the fact that I believe this is a rip-off of another design with a tube used as a distractor. There is NOTHING "tubey" about this thing, and I mean both the good and the bad qualities of tubes.

Seems well built, I was satisfyingly heavy in solid to hold in your hand, which is always a smart thing to do from a marketing/customer satisfaction point of view.

I have no experience here so this doesn't apply.

I think I covered this section in the above. My main genre is "rock-metal". I like a high-gain but old-school type of tone and value hearing the tone of the guitar well-preserved. I am sorry if I offend anyone who has such contrary experiences with it, but I felt a contrary point of view would be helpful for potential purchasers.

Very easy for me to find the sound that I wanted. A few switches and knobs. Great tweakability.

Sounds exactly like I want it to. I play guitar with Autovenom and you can check out the sounds of both the classic tb and the hot brit on myspace.

Here's where I have a problem with the tonebone distortions, both the classic and the hot brit. The switching sucks the sweat off a dead mans balls! For this reason I am now searching for a replacement to both of these distortions. I've sent one of them back to canada already and I'd rather trash the thing than keep having to do that.

Radial supposedly fixed the switching problem when it first became a problem for me. Whatever they did it didn't last. If there's one thing that I can't fucking stand is being in the middle of a recording session and having any expensive piece of shit crap out on me. Kudos for their quick turnaround though, lol.....

What style of music do I play? I don't know, listen to Autovenom and you tell me! I've been playing guitar for 28 years and own nothing but top quality instruments and effects. Although the tonebone's sound great, I can't rely on them to be there when I need them. Hey maybe I just got 2 bad ones, and the one that was repaired just got tired of me stepping on it. If some dumb sonofabitch was to put there hands on my pedalboard, I'd probably tell them go ahead and take the tonebones, they suck anyway. Then again, they may swallow a hollowpoint! I give it a 4 in overall because it sounds so good but I don't want any extra aby switches on my board so I consider it a piece of sh1t!

This pedal will require some tweaking to get the tone from it IF you are adament about using the EQing and boosting features.Still in all, easy to dial in once you know what your looking for.

I use the Volume/LEvel and Gain knobs are all thats needed for serious sustain/tone. I shut off the mid and lowend boost switches - run them out/ flat. AS well, the same goes for the EQ knobs for If you run them straight up 12 oclock they are essentially taken out of circuit.

I use the new Marshall 1959HW handwired Plexi amp. Great amp with some tweaks to it. I bridge the channels on this amp and run the Hot British in the top left input. I let the Tonebone supply the Gain and Volume whilest the 1959HW Marshall gives me 110% of my tone shaping/EQing to shape mny sound.

I wouldnt even beging to noodle with it through a Master Volume amp. To me it is not focused what so ever in that direction. If your a JCM800 2203 guy, Master VOlume rig...type of player which I also am for my Second rig look to a Klon Centaur or a SIlvermod TS9 Analogman. THis Tonebone is for the NMV type rigs. WIll send your Marshall into heights of greatness. What this pedal will NOT DO is give you Eddie Van Halen.

So far mine hasnt broken however a very close friend of mines switch went down on him and after sending it back to TOnebone direct the company put a heavy duty switch on the unit. So far so good. I think if TOnebone would have possibly upgraded the switch to the heavy duty variety in the first place this would have been avoided. Still in all, Im hoping this was an isolated incident . All else with the pedal was 100% THis rates an 8 for it didnt happen to me...yet:>) Im sure it will be fine. I also own a TOnebone Switchbone which I have yet to fully dial in due to final Rig modifications that are currently being done. I will post for the Switchbone. Tested really well though. Ok the Hot British seems like its a decent build of course its pcb for $180. I use only a Marshall 9thj gen chinese 12ax7 which gives me a noiseless and smooth operating conmdition over the stock tube which had a slight hum but still barely audible until you cerank her up! I have tried 12 dif. modern 12ax7 and 12ax7a types and the 9th gen chinese shines brightest in more ways then one.

TOnebone took some time with the repair to my friends unit but was acceptable. Overall he is happy with the repair. I myself have not used Customer support so no rating here for me.

I bought this unit under recommendation from my friend who sweared by these things for NMV type Marshalls. Well, as he usually is, he was correct. If your looking for an original tone or rather the particvualr tone your amp stock gives you but with added dimensionality, infinate sustain (If thats your type), Excellent harmonics, Nice Overdrive structure with punch and a broad freq. with even order harmonics across the top mid and bottom end EQs this pedal is the ticket. Great stuff. Great price. Good reliability. If your trul;y wanting to enhance your current Marshall or other Non Master Volume amps tone but not color its sound than this [edal will give it up in spades. Only more a-0natural sounding pedal mayu possibly be the BK designs. Still noodling with both! I trhink your missing something if you own a NMV Marshall anyway and dont have this pedal at least for a part of your arsenal. If your wanting to be EVH look elsewhere like an Attenuatopr, Variac, etc . I think you know. Great 12ax7 TOnebox for the money.

once purchased, the user will effortlessly dial in a variety of pleasing tones. the manual is extremely helpful in pinpointing the basics, at which time you've to let your ears tweek and finetune ''the sound'', your pursuing. ther are a copious amount of buttons to utilise that will allow you to get that heavenly sound.
if you can't find a particular sound that you can honestly use from this box, take up knitting, cuz your deaf.

2003 strat deluxe with dimarzio's into clean channel of an ALL TUBE 212, with celestion greeback ext spkrs. NOTE: YOU GET OUT WHAT YOU PUT IN!!!!!!!
don't whine about your tone when your running a floyd yamaha into a peavey bandit.
my pedal board , effects, and cables are boutique and first class. no digital boss crap here. many a praise i get.
this pedal is in one word british-marshall. a true pickers pedal, sensitive to pick attack, amazing natural lengthy decay, overtones.
i'll never have to look again. the distortion is JUST SO CONVINCING.
very finely grained distortion. smooth as butter to my ears and through my gear. sound is subjective and this is a refined marshal in a box. no overtly brutal sounds emanating from this box.

it's velcroed to my sturdy pedalboard and hasn't even farted in 2 years.

no need.

contemporary rock, legato, progressive. suits my style to a tee.
i'm a guitar teacher, weekend gigger, as well as many other things.
playing all my life, tried just about everything out there. smoother than my tube screamer, more versatile than them all. a very non-offensive user friendly pedal.
couldn't imagine playing without it anymore. i use it 75 % of the time i'm playing.

Its pretty easy to get a good sound of it, there are many EQ options to get used to, but once you get to know each one, you can get the hang of it.
The manual offers approx 10 examples of different settings, pretty useful... Overall, its easy to use, although the names for each parameter is a bit vague.

Im using a Fender American Stratocaster and a Fender 30w champion Amp, hence its a bit noisy, turning up the gain, though the single coils donate to it. The distortion you get from it is absolutely fantastic, you cant but get the authentic feeling of it.

Tweaking the parameters will lead to great sounds, although achieving a blues o/d might be a tough job to do. You also have the option to tweak the style of the sound (dark, bright, flat), making the bone a match to any amp.

I mostly into grundge - Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, but I also play alot of blues and some hard rock like Guns N Roses... It can easily navigate through all the grundge and rock, I cant think of a band I wont be able to get to with it, yet, playing blues is a difficulty.

Its built like a tank, the knobs are solid, its all well.

Had no troubles with it, I wouldnt know.

I play everything from hard rock (Guns n Roses), grundge (Pearl Jam, AIC) to Blues (robben ford, etc). It can definitely sound amazing with all the rock types, but getting it to blues is pretty hard (try lowering the gain to 0 and getting the contour to max).

If it were stolen i'd definitely buy another one.

I really love its big mid boosts, its "sweet" tone, the fact that its extremely dominant... If you're thinking whether to buy it or the classic, simply ask yourself whether you're more into hard rock, a dist that really upgrades your tone presence, or whether you're looking for a dist. that'll give you everything from blues to mid-hard rock... (classic)

My 2 cents.

Although the pedal is a bit of a one trick pony, and the overall sound is pretty uniform, it can take a little tweaking to find exactly what you're looking for. Overall, though, it's quite simple to set up and use.

OK, this is a VERY subjective field, but for what it's worth: I bought this pedal because a reliable friend/guitarist said "It's Van Halen One in a box!". To an extent, I'd have to agree. If you play through clean or limited overdrive-style amps, and you're looking for a "classic" Marshall type tone, this pedal RULES!! That is all it does, but it does it wonderfully! If you already play through a high gain amp, it's probably not what you're looking for, because it can tend to "muddy" those up. I play a variety of guitars (Strats, Teles, a couple of Valley Arts) through either an old Super Reverb or a Vox AC30 CC. Through these amps, I'm able to cop the fabled "Brown Sound" and LOVE the sound I'm getting. I've tried it through higher gain amps, and didn't like it so much. But for me and my amps, I gotta give it a 10.

Been using this pedal for over 2 years now, and haven't had one problem.

Spoke with the Radial people a couple of times about other products (this pedal seems to be a tank) and they were friendly, knowledgeable (sp?), and professional.

I play mostly classic rock, some blues, some country, etc. While it doesn't work for the kind of country I play, for rock and blues, I haven't found a pedal I like better. Ended up buying a Tonebone Classic as well. Love these pedals. I've been playing for around 20 years, and I've tried dozens of pedals, from Boss to Ibanez to Digitech/DOD to Tubeworks (they were making clones of the old Chandler Tubedriver pedals) and I have not found a pedal that comes as close to the classic "Brown" Plexi sound. Like I said, I did buy a Classic too, since this pedal is a one-sound pedal. I also use an old Tube Screamer, a Keeley compressor, a boss delay, and an mxr phase 90, and a boss harmonist for chorus. I've been able to get pretty much any tone I've wanted with this setup.
If someone stole this pedal, I would definitely replace it!

Very easy to use.

Good general tube fuzz. Can have it trebbly or bassy/muted. The key work is 'GENERAL' tube fuzz.

Major things to keep in mind:

1-If you use the tube, you WILL get distortion with very very little overdrive or crunch sounds. This seems to only give distortion.

2-There is no 'clean sound' through the tubes. So If you wanna learn chords or practice while surfing the net with a nice mellow tube glow - forget it.

3-The tube does not give full 'crazy' distortion. Even maxed out with all knobs at max, there still is plently of 'could be' room for more distortion. Keep this in mind if you wanna go crazy or chase a sound.

4-The distortion that you DO get, is very tailor-friendly. You can get muted 'midrange' distortion or you can get very trebly open distortion with bass (which is what I like). You can fine tune this exactly to how you like. This is my favorite part of the pedal.
Again, keep in mind, for some reason there just isn't a tight crunch sound. It's a fuzz type distortion and that's it.

Here is my expert synopsis:

It's really a chip based that puts out the same fuzz tone like a fuzz face. When you up the gain, you are mostly likely just upping the tube output gain. The bass, trebble, etc are again just boosting signals to the chip.

Think about it, a REAL tube overdrive pedal should have at least two tubes.

Lots of people dump on the Electro-Harmonix English Muff?n Overdrive Pedal, but it uses 2 tubes and when you overdrive it all the way it beecomes very mudy and grungy. Almost changes tone.. why? Because it's most likely a real tube overdrive.

pretty easy to get the sound your chasing if you fiddle enough. manual helps.

using a fat strat through a hot rod deville. nice warm sound. can get a massive array of tones with it and every control is super responsive, and with enough tweaking you can really nail the sound you want. i use it for soloing to cut through and beyond

yeah its going fine. i think the tubes just gone in it. not flash after four months, but hey, you get that

had it for four months and i want to get rid of it. when i went looking i was tossing up between this and the classic. my reliable guitar store guy said this was the one because the classic just didn't have enough oomph/meat/zang whatever. this is where i screwed up. not remembering that my guitar guy is a big 70's and 80's metal fan, i took his advice and bought the hot british. what i realised is that his not enough is my plenty for the vintage rock'n'roll sounds i want. i can use this thing for solo's, and it is the best at what it does. but what it does, i cant use. entirely my fault. this pedal is a beast. so take this as a warning all pop/rock'n'roll players. and remember that 90% of guitar shop dudes are in the same guitar headspace my guy's in, so translate their advice accordingly (ie "right on man" = "i can dig, sugar").

The knobs are pretty self-explanatory, and there's a button you put your foot on... how can you go wrong? :)

Takes a bit of tweaking until you find your sound, but then everything does. Plenty of cool example settings on the Tonebone website (tonebone.com) which can provide a good starting point.

Replacing the tube is something you don't have to do with all-solidstate distortion pedals, but the manual gives detailed and easy-to-follow instructions so it's not such a disaster, and you don't have to do it often at all.

What can I say... this pedal is amazing.

I play an Ibanez RG1570 with the stock pups swapped out for DiMarzios (Tone Zone/Blue Velvet/Air Norton). I put a little compression on my clean tone and I keep the Tonebone in the loop on my Boss noise suppressor (quite important for me at least - I crank the gain up on this and with the compressor it does get a bit noisy). Amp-wise I use a Line6 POD Pro on the Roland JC120 amp model - not got the cash for a new power amp yet so I run it into the FX return on my other amp (Laney MXD120H)... works for me.

With the POD and the Tone Zone this pedal sounds amazing. It sounds pretty incredible when I had the stock pickups and just the Laney amp, but still... the range of sounds achievable on this thing is very impressive. Of all the people who say it's not that great for extreme metal, here's one guitarist *waves* who does. It's perhaps not your stereotypical metal tone, but it works for me at least. Crushing rhythm tone when you need it, and beautiful, smooth, creamy lead sounds when you need them too.

I may have taken a gamble which paid off but I'd still recommend trying it in the shop first, if you can.

It's a pretty sturdy metal box, it could probably be kicked around a fair bit and live... but I'm not going to try :P

I've had it 5 months and it's been PERFECT - no problems at all. Haven't gigged with it yet (will in a couple of months though) but I trust it enough to play without a backup.

Haven't had to go after customer support, so can't say.

I've been playing for about 4 years and I play metal - think Nevermore, Death, Symphony X, Lamb of God, etc - although I don't really sound like any of those bands, which is a good thing I suppose :P I don't just play metal though, I can handle almost all forms of rock guitar, as well as blues, funk and jazz, and this pedal is great for everything.

If it were stolen... first I'd hunt down the guy who took it and rough him up a little, then I'd buy it again in a heartbeat.

I love the sound, I love the versatility. I can't really think what I hate about it... nothing to hate!

Compared to my old Boss... no comparison. The MT-2 is just nasty standing next to the Tonebone. The other guitarist in my band uses a Digitech Death Metal which got some good reviews, but it's still constantly upstaged by the sound of the Tonebone. It cuts through the mix better, sounds meatier, smoother, and doesn't sound like a swarm of bees.

What I'd really like is a 7-band graphic EQ or something on the distortion pedal, but I have a Boss GE-7 anyway so I'm covered... but it'd be nice.

That's it really... this pedal is brilliant, so at least try it if you can.

Find your tone! play around

This is to respond to the people who say that the TB does not produce classic tones....BS*****t. You don't know waht you are talking about. Like the older players.... You need to have an old tube head such as a marshall plexi or JMP (67-75...no later)and not a JTM.I have an SG and use the tonebone and it is a totally natural gain sound that can be tweaked up. But yes....you can get classic tones. AC/DC with the drive down low or George Lynch with it up. People say that it has too much gain????Just turn the drive down. You NEED to have an old Marshall or Fender head and a Gibson or Fender to get these tones. There is barely any difference of gain when my drive is on 0, and when the tonebone is off. An MXR phase melds great with it.Throw in a Digiverb at the end of your chain. If you have a JMP Marshall(early 70s)this is the best tone on earth.If your pickups are mud, your tone is mud(neck PU). You will put all other tones to shame with the Tonebone. Without these great old tube heads...you can't have a vintage tone with the tonebone. Why would I waste my time typing this??

Carry a backup tube

fend for yourself

or You will em bar ass!!other people with your tone. I have an SG withsa stock bridge PU and a PAF pro in the neck along with 75 watt celestion cabinets. You can also get a killer modern metal tone when you drive it up...just use a HUSH pedal for the noise.(a great noise reducer that will NOT alter or chop off your tone or sustain when using an adapter/batteries will burn too quickly)
After 20 years of searching...my tone quest is over.
Again....you need that old Marshall or Fender head for that classic tone. Carvin., Bogner and Mesas will give killer tones also! JCM 800s,900s(heads) are crap along with AVTs
Throw away(I mean sell) your MXR or Boss or Digitech
Remember..Spend the money on an old Marshall ...6 knobs, 4 inputs

Controls are somewhat complicated compared to other distortion units, hence an 8 rating.

I had high expectations for the Hot British, being a big fan of the late 60s Marshall Plexi sound. I use a Germino Lead 55 head and Bogner Shiva head for guitar, both of which have plenty of Marshallesque overdrive in them. But I found the Hot British to be too muddy and too noisy. I recommend getting a Fulltone Full Drive 2 or OCD instead. Keep in mind that is just my preference, you could try the Hot British and find it gives you the sound you're looking for. And I'll repeat the old mantra -- "play it before you buy it". Especially with the amp you will be using it with.

Didn't have it long enough for a rating.

Did not contact them.

The Hot British wasn't my cup of tea. Maybe the Classic is a better pedal. Check out the Fulltone pedals, they have great overdrive along with crystal clear definition.

This pedal has a great deal of eq options, along with a well-matched volume control, and a sensitive gain control knob. It takes a bit to get the sound, but the options are well thought out. I usually run the eq flat, with the mid boost out and the notch out, but to add the notch does add a lot of bass and high end boost.

this is a very nice sounding tube driver. I run it with a PRS custom 24 with dimarzios or a les paul custom with dimarzios into a Marshall JTM 45. The sound is more sustain than gain. It adds a beautiful violin like tone to the JTM. It is a bit to much gain for a jcm 800, but a perfect match for the JTM or any plexi non master volume head!! I love this pedal, and feel it completely matches the early B.K. Butler designed tube drivers, for half the price!! Get one for your plexi type head, you will love getting a sustainy tone over an overdrive sound for different types of solos, or open chords like Angus Young!!! Sometimes a bit of mud on the neck pickup, probably unavoidable with a tube driver, but it is controllable!!

Seems very reliable. I have taken apart this unit to check out the insides, and let me tell you, it is one of the most well designed pedals I have seen. The circuit board is well laid out, and the tube is easily removed and replaced. It also uses a JRC 4558D chip, along with a bunch of other JRC (Japaneses Radio Corp.) chips, which sound fantastic. It is NOT very hard to take apart and removed the tube, do not be put off by this job, it took me 10 minutes to open and close, with changing the tube. The installed lovw gain Ruby tube sounds the best, I tried a JJ 12Ax7A and it was too much high end and gain, keep the low gain ruby tube, it works the best!!

This company is really on the move!! I love the people there in canada! I called them up the other day to ask about the tube, and in 2 minutes or less, I had a very knowledgeable tech on the line answering all my questions. He also suggested keeping the stock tube, a ruby, and he was right!!! I feel this company would take care of any problems whatsoever, plus they are very knowledgeable, and have a R & D room for testing complete with all the goodies, they are testing sounds and it shows!!

Overall I give it a 9. It has a great tone for sustaining a plexi head. That's what it does!! I love the sound running through my JTM 45, like early Santana and lots of creamy, fluid sustain! A must have!!

Setting all knobs 12 o?clock and all switches neutral produces already a usable sound. It?s just much more time consuming to find the sound that suits you best; you won?t get there in the first day. The big problem is the lacking equalization. No mid knob? The mid boost switch affects the frequencies around 360Hz. I mean, WTF?! Since when has 360Hz been considered as mid? It?s much easier to get scooped EQs (read: sucky) out of this box than that upper mid bite, while treble is very prone to insanely bright sizzle. I found it helps when I put the voicing switch on 'fat' (which by the way doesn?t make things fatter, only louder) and the contour knob to max, and the treble knob relatively low.

I haven?t changed the tube yet (I haven?t owned this for that long), but eventually time will come to do that. According to the manual it looks quite confusing. Now I?m not a dim-wit, I will be able to do it, but I just don?t like the idea of disintegrating the whole unit to change one lousy tube. That?s part of the usability, so ease of use -rating won?t score high with Hot British.

The sound is definitely NOT as old school as all the hype claimed. Actually quite smooth (smoother than my personal tastes would prefer) with fine-grained texture and strong compression. But on the other hand it can?t be denied it has the drought and warmth you don?t hear nowadays anymore on the trendy "metal" recordings. I hear the same feel than in sounds of American hard rock and metal albums from the early 90?s. A bit like G?nR with moderate drive settings, and with the drive cranked to max more like death metal from that era (for example Brutal Truth?s Need To Control album, although not that extreme and huge... Ok, not the best example.) The drive around 12 or 1 o?clock, and it fits well for all kinds of metal (remember Skid Row?), and why not even for black metal too, for its rather good chord definition. I just don?t like the lack of ?breath? on higher string chords; it?s tight in that way instead of loose. (Keep in mind that I have a humbucker on my guitar.) Still it?s not tiresome to ears for some reason, and the more I play it, the more I grow to like it, although it?s definitely not MY sound (the sound I hear in my head).

Absolutely the worst part is the tendency for loud buzzing noise. I have the same problem with another distortion pedal that is acclaimed as silent, so I don?t know what the problem is. On the other hand I also have an analogue distortion pedal which noise levels are extremely low. So I guess Hot British doesn?t like my crappy guitar or electricity of my house. Frankly, I expected more noise tolerance for such expensive piece of equipment. However, it seems that this problem can be solved with buying a noise gate, because whenever I make a sound from my guitar, the noise steps aside.

The manual claims that the controls are interactive and "over-compensate" each other. This must be a blatant lie, because when keeping all the other knobs at same settings, distortion characteristic is the exact same whether I put the level knob to 9 o?clock or 5 o?clock. So there?s only one kind of distortion you get from this box, you can change only the gain and equalization. For this reason I?d like to someday try out Stephenson StageHog, which has genuine interactive controls.

Soloing is for some reason not so fun with Hot British. I dunno, it just sounds somehow awkward and not pretty sounding at all. Perhaps you will enjoy the mid boost switch for retro-ish blues solos, but for me there are better soloing distortion devices handy.

Pick attack is smooth and not very accentuated, but articulate on higher strings. On lower strings the pick attack is somehow lacking... As if it had flu. Melechesh?s Sphynx album has similar kind of behaviour of distortion, in case you have heard it.

I don?t know if using an adaptor with different voltage is possible or dangerous to Hot British. The stock power supply is 15 volts, and perhaps such a high voltage causes Hot British to sound the way it does. But I don?t want to fry this box with daring voltage experimentations.

For me, Hot British does only one thing (although it does it well), and that is good all around metal and hard rock rhythm guitaring. For such, the price is ab-so-lute-ly dreadful! For <gasp> 300 euros, a pedal should produce multitude of convincing non-digital sounds for multitude of situations, mow your lawn, and make your coffee as well. I recently found a distortion pedal that kicks Hot British?s ass for far less that 1/3 of its price (RAT 2, if you insist to know). I feel tricked. Tricked into thinking that there is no substitute for a real tube distortion.

But hold on, I?m not ready to part from Hot British, at least not yet. The sound has nice warmth and clarity, and it?s actually quite inspirational and addicting to play through Hot British, resulting in lots of cool riffs. I think I will use it in my future recordings alongside with other distortions. I?m just bitter for the money I spent.

Without the voicing and mid boost switches, this pedal would not be nearly as useful. It takes a while to dial in the right sounds, much like a good tube amp.The controls are very responsive, almost too responsive. Definetly not a "plug in and play" pedal, 8 for this category.

I have tried many marshall amps, and of course listened to countless records featuring the marshall sound.Being very particular about my guitar tone, i was very skeptical as to wether other not the lonely 12ax7 was just a gimmick. First plugging in my american strat into a simple blues jr, I was surprised that even with the gain at 12 the sound still had plenty of sustain and saturation, without the lo fi compression associated with many new transistor pedals. With mid boost,delay,reverb, and a tubescreamer to fatten up the high notes i could get very close to the eric johnson violin tone on the bridge pickup. Soaring leads without getting muddy, even with my sloppy technique. I think the secret is to not dime the gain, as i was used to doing on my other distortion pedals. Next up was my 58' reissue les paul, which when used with other dist pedals was a major disappointment. With a few minor tweaks i was getting the tone i had in mind when i bought the guitar. Fat,warm,responsive,rich les paul humbucking tone found all over the live zeppelin cd "how the west was won". I was very pleased to find that the pedal could mimic the drive of an old plexi as well as the higher gain marshalls, not just another one trick pony. Coming from a guy who is very particular about his distorted tones, this is the closest ive ever come to the ultimate dirt box.

The pedals seems solid enough, but when the time comes to change the tube im in for a hassle. Reading up in the manual, the entire pedal must be taken apart to get at the tube inside.Assuimg the inner electronics are fragile, im very weary of perfoming major surgery on such a great pedal. Tube needs to be replaced every 3 years or so with regular usage, warranty from tonebone only lasts for one year.

I imagine theyre pricks.

Ive owned boss ds-1's,mt2's, Dod's, Big muffs,etc. Nothing has come close to the authentic sound of this pedal. I reccomend this to anyone needing the sound of a marshall or just high quality tube distortion. Brillant,possibly the best distortion pedal on the market today.

I admit that it took me a while to find a sound that I like, but now I do believe that I've got it! It's just that with the controls all being active the slightest move on a dial can make all the differance. I did find a lot of cool tones along the way, but I was trying to find the right sound for me and for the equiptment that I'm using it thru.

I'm using the Hot British with a swamp ash Les Paul loaded with a set of Dimarzio Virtual PAF's. (Outstanding pickups!)My amp is a Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue. (Great amp. Don't let some snobs tell you otherwise). The only change to the amp is a Hellatone 30 speaker from Avatar which is housed in a seperate open back cabinet that I built. I've read some reviews here where people have said the unit is noisey but that's not the case with mine at all. As I said it took me a while to find 'the' sound that would work for me. Part of that process involved trying differant preamp tubes. Mine came with a JJ ECC83S which is a very good tube in certain applications. But for the most part I thought it drove the gain on this pedal to extreames. This pedal is a hot-rod, make no mistake about it, and I thought it needed a bit of calming down. In my humble opinion the two tubes that I felt helped this pedal are a Groove Tubes 12AX7M and a lesser gained EH 5751. I seem to prefer the 12AX7M because to my ears it seemed to give the mids more of a 'wooden' quality which I like and it seemed to calm the gain down somewhat.
A lot of folks have said the Hot British sounds like a Marshall. Keep in mind that I've never played thru a Marshall but I have my own idea of what the Marshall sound is. To me, think Judas Priest's "Living after Midnight", AC/DC's "Back in Black" CD, EVH's tone on "Van Halen II" and Jimmy Pages tone on "How The West Was Won." In my opinion the Hot British does NOT sound anything like the artists tones I've mentioned. It's too high gained for tones like that. To me it's more along the lines of a 5150. Think of EVH's tone on "Fire in the Hole" or on "Aftershock." That's what the Hot British delivers. A very gainey, present and full kind of a sound that will peel the paint off a wall if you want it to. You can also get a decent scooped, Mesa kinda thing too but that's not my preferance.
For what I like to hear and what seems to work best with my equiptment is to have the controls on the Hot British set as follows:
Level: 2:00
High: 12:00 w/ Top End switch set to Flat
Low: 2:30
Contour: 2:30 w/ Voicing Switch set to Notch, Mid Boost set to 7dB
Drive: 11:30
Again, thru my gear I get a great sound that's thick but not too middy or muddy, low with no drone and clear without being ice-pickey. Just a really good modern rocking tone that works for me. Makes my little Deluxe sound HUGE!!

I've had the Hot British for about 2 years now and so far all's fine.

I did e-mail them one time and they never responded. Maybe my message got lost that day. but I have read that the folks at Radial are very helpful.

I'm by no means an expert when it comes to pedals because I've only tried maybe 5 others before buying the Hot British. I know there are other pedals with tubes out there and others that sound pretty good that don't require much of a learning curve compared to this one. But for my needs and for what I like to hear I'm really digging on this pedal since I've found the sound that works for me. It's definatley tailored for more of a higher-gained thing and if that's what you're looking for I would recommend giving the Hot British a try. If you're after more of a tradition Marshall sounding kinda pedal I would recommend the Classic, of which I also own. Great stuff.

The British tonebone puts any other distortion to shame. Everything else is a joke. You really need to spend time with it and have a good tube amp , and a good guitar. The manual is great...you just need to take your timwe dialing in. After searching for 19 years, this is it.

If you are using a guitar without a humbucker, it is limited, of course. I am using an SG with a marshall 74 head with a Hush pedal(very important). The Hush will wipe out most of the noise without affecting a high gain tone.I am able to get such a wide variety of tones from death metal to mild rock. The sustain and crunch is incredible. The sound is so much clearer when soloing on the G and D strings in the neck pickup position. You do not hear that annoying pick attack scraping sound. It is singing clarity.

No problems yet. Any one with a brain would carry a backup tube with them.

xxx

The tone w/ my SG, old Marshall tube head JMP 1974, the Hush and the tonebone, in my opinion can give you any rock or metal tone. It can sing sweet or blow your head off. Try this setup..

The tonebone is the key to happiness

It's not hard but you have to take your time to tweak the knobs. I suggest you to read the explanations of the swithces in the manual, which brings average info about the features.

Gretsch Sparkle Jet and Yamaha AES620 (Les Paul type with Duncan JB on the bridge) throught Tonebone to '59 Fender Bassman reissue.

Compared it with my TS9 reissue, a Maxon D & S II, an American made Big Muff and a Boss Turbo Distortion.

I compared it with the TS9 because this is a pedal that realy keeps your amp's original sound, no matter what people say abut 808s, OCDs and Fulldrives. The other pedals were there just for the comparison's sake.

The Tonebone is by far the most convincing distortion pedal that I've ever tried, and I am picky. It just doesn't have the same low-end that the Turbo Distortion has, but it sounds bigger than this and bigger than the Maxon. I used to have a Metal Zone and I sold it because, although it has a tight low-end, it sounds very solid state, which can be good if you play metal.

There's no middle ground or mild distortion for the Tonebone. This thing was made to rock hard and loud. If you want an overdrive, to play, like, Rolling Stones or Steve Ray Vaughn, go get some Tubescreamer or Maxon808. The Tonebone came directly from the depths of Marshall Hades to take our guitar players' souls. Great for playing STP and classic metal, but not for Pantera or Death Metal (I would stick with the Metal Zone if I was to play extreme metal).

There are so many possibilities in the Tonebone that it'll probably take me a year to figure it all out.

Chord definition is good, but not superb. It's not fuzzy at all and it has some smothness reminescent of a Master Volume tube amplifier. I found that the TS9 and the Maxon had better chord definition, but the former is just an (very good) overdrive and the latter does get fuzzy in higher gain settings and it doesn't sound as convincing. The Tonebone sounds beautiful no matter where the gain knob is.

I don't know. Bought it two days ago...

Although the pedal looks and feels like a tank, I would bring a backup because this thing has a tube in it and tubes sometimes have a temper...

Never had to deal with them.

I play classic rock, punk, post-punk, metal, alternative and I think the Tonebone covers at least 80% of these territories. First time I tried it was about 3 years ago and in the clean channel of a Bad Cat Hot Cat amp. I compared the pedal with the amp's distorted channel and liked the amp's distortion better. However, that was a over $ 2,500 amp and I'm fine having the Tonebone turning my Bassman into a Marshall. My favorite features in this pedal are the dip switches, and the marvellous things they can do. I'm a bedroom player, but I bet this thing rocks on stage becase it excels in provinding you with two extra mid-range levels, just what you need to make yourself heard in the mix.

As I said in the beginning, I compared it with a few other pedals, had previously played with it years ago and decided to buy it after months of rssearch on websites, including Harmony-cental. Now my search is over; better than the Tonebone, only buyng a Marshall stack, which I won't do in this life of meat-and-potatoes guitar player of mine.

Simple. The manual is a great way to start with this pedal, then expand the sound with your own tastes by turning a few knobs. the sounds on this pedal are endless.

This is by far the best distrotion pedal ive played on so far. My own theory in one word is " tubes ". there is no substitute or anything that comes close to re-creating the sound of genuine tube distortion. i play everything minus country and anything similar to rap, and this pedal does almost all of it, incuding some pretty heavy stuff. the only complaint i have is if im in a low tuning ( drop - c ), once i start doing chords on the lower stgings up past the 8th or 9th fret, it gets more fuzzy than it does distorted. it could be my pickups, cuz all im playing on for dropped-tuning stuff is a ibanez low end rg model. this thing sounds great for all around rock on my gibson ( es-335) and esp ( tele reissue ) and i have no complains with those guitars. this isnt made for heavy stuff, but it can cut it. this thing also breaks through the rest of a bands playing great.

for how small this thing is, it weighs quite a bit. the knobs are very tight, and that seems like a good sign to me too. id gig without a backup simply because i have no other distortion pedals anymore besides this one.

n/a

For what i play ( rock, blues, and metal ) this thing is great, but i could probly use a little more metal-styled pedal for the heavy stuff. this thing sounds like an amp itself. a marshall to be exact, like everyone has said. i bought this thing without trying it out or anything thinking i was taking a big gamble on it, and im more than happy with this pedal. if it were stolen, id simply find it, get it, and keep it. i love the way this thing makes my guitars sustain basically last for days. its unreal.i do wish it had a mid knob instead of switch along with the high and low knobs. seems more sensable to me. but im not complaingin, trust me. buy this pedal if you want a pedal that goes from a little bit of a growl to liquid-like sustain and distortion. its awesome.

If you cant work this, just shoot yourself!!

Right i plugged this thing in an hour ago into my 100watt MARSHALL Valvestate.Now im gunna be completly honest with you about this pedal ok,i bought this still having MAJOR douts about it/i was a actually telling myself 'this is gunna be SHIT'!
Oh boy was i wrong,this thing made me cream my pants-INSTANTLEY!
Pure-Un-adulterated-Blistering-TONE!!
Now, i am 25 ok & ive been playing since i was 13,so im not a DUMB-ASS when it comes to MY sound that i love like many others out there like me!
Seriously you know that SOUND/TONE in your 'head'?
This this REALLY gets it out for you,you cant NOT like this peadal FULL-F@@KIN-STOP!!
Ive searched for years for a DECENT distortion pedal,and now im one happy dude!
The world could blow up/but i dont care as im playing this when it happens!
Im in a Grunge/Rock band (3 of us) - WWW.SABIBA.NET
Check us out & leave a comment if ya like....
oh yeah, BUY THIS PEDAL NOW!! YOU WILL KICK YOURSELF IF YOU DONT!!

Built like a brick shit house!!
nearly INDISTRUCTABLE id say.... \m/-_-\m/ (rock'n'roll)

Not delt with them & hopefully i wont have to :)

Yes i know its abit steep but buy the time you bought 3 or 4 other brand names you would have spent this anyways!
Think about it-cheep pedal=cheep sound!!
At the end of the day i can only give you my honest opinion on this lovely - TONEBONE Hot British,and put it this way this is the ONLY thing that would make me be proud to 'BE' British!!
End of story - nuff said!
Oww yeah,this is a FULLER sound to the 'CLASSIC' which is a fine pedal,but this is WAY BETTER to me personally.
I love - A.I.C/S.T.P/SOUNDGARDEN/NIRVANA/ZAKK WYLDE/HENDRIX/LEDZEP/THE DOORS/SLIPKNOT/SABBATH & many more!! :)

This is not the easiest pedal to use, but it is worth the effort.

This pedal is a true "stack-in-the-box"! No kidding. It is a little noisy, but show me a Marshall stack that isn't. If you crank up the gain, the noise comes along for the ride plain and simple. Now when I say noisy, I mean when the guitar is in neutral, but when you start to play all you're gonna hear is TONE! This thing turns my beautiful sounding Deluxe Reverb amp into a rock monster and I refer to it as channel 3. Channel 2 is my Tonebone Classic -- another equaly impressive pedal by Radial.

Well aside from tube changes, this thing ought to last forever. Thick steel housing and solid feeling knobs and switches leave me feeling very confident that it will be around fro the long haul.

The folks at Radial/Tonebone were very friendly indeed and answered all my questions patiently and honestly. I realize this is a "before the sale" thing but I get the impression these folks are proud of their product and are willing and able to back up that pride.

What can I say, my search for OD pedals is over. Between the Tonebone Classic and this little jewel -- coupled with my beloved Deluxe Reverb I have every sound I ever wanted to make with my guitar(s) at my finger tips.

Takes a lot of tweaking to get the desired sound out of it; i.e. Lead and rhythm require two completely different settings. Also very dependent on the guitar and amp.

It's somewhat noisy, but that's to be expected from a tube distortion pedal emulating a Marshall stack. For lead, it sounds phenomenal...think "Slash-in-a-box". But for rhythm, it sounded muddy with my G&L Legacy and Hot Rod Deluxe. It didn't stack well with my tubescreamer or HepCat, either. I tried it with a Gibson SG, too, which was a significant improvement...sustain for days. But it still sounded somewhat muddy with a weak low end.

Buy it if you already have your rhythm sounds taken care of...it's a great lead pedal for high gain solos. But it's not very versatile, and I think you'll find yourself using it on a single setting, set for "lead boost".

It's pretty hard to get a bad sound out of it, although I personally am very picky with my distortions, so to get a good sound for me is pretty specific. Being that there are a lotta knobs and switches, it makes it a bit difficult to dial it in.

The manual for it is freakin awesome, with suggested settings and then a whole page for you to pen in your own!

I use a 3 Loooper effects loop, and this is in the 3rd effects loop. It's in there with a super chile picoso and a boss RC20XL Loopstation. I use a Gibson LP into a Marshall AVT275.

This unit is extremely quiet for the amount of gain it has. The effects on it are extremely sensitive and make for great tweaking. When I put the midboost on +7dB, I sound like freakin Brian May! I generally have the midboost off, though, as I have a boost pedal already and I don't want to sound like May ALL the time.

My favorite guitar player is Slash, and this thing sounds like a marshall and is everything I could have ever asked for. This is, as far as I can tell, the best distortion pedal on the market for that marshall sound. I always leave the voicing switch on "fat", as that is how I like my distortions.

This pedal is true bypass as well, and no audible pops or clicks when turning it on and off

Hell, I think it's better than my marshall distortion!

The tube needs to get replaced every 2 or 3 years, but besides that this thing should last a few lifetimes.

The power supply seems kinda fragile, but I've found some on ebay for pretty cheap (20 USD)

N/A

I like my distortions fat and thick, yet smooth, and this pedal is beautiful. Every other pedal I've ever heard give thin buzzy distortions (even ones others love, like the boss MT-2) and this beauty is, well, beautiful.

My main types of music are blues rock, alternative rock, and jazz. This pedal is obviously useless for jazz, but for rock sounds (and even electronic dance songs, like a song in one of my bands) this thing is awesome. Very versatile, although you can't get a mild overdrive nor a thrash-metal sound outta it. Being as I can get a mild overdrive from my amp and/or my boost pedal, and I don't play thrash, I don't see these as limitations.

If it were stolen or lost, I'd cry. I got a great deal on this one, but it's damned expensive nonetheless. If I had the cash, though (meaning I'd be broke afterwards), I'd definitely replace it.

I love everything about this pedal. Being as I have ADD, I don't have the patience to sit and tweak knobs all day trying to find different sounds, but I found the sound I was looking for pretty quickly. I'm happy with it, and the manual helped me find that sound.

My favorite feature on the pedal, if I have to choose one, is the "fat" voicing. That's exactly how I describe my favorite tones, and this pedal takes it's awesome sound and kicks it up a notch with the "fat" voicing.

I first heard about this when i called my music store and asked them for a pedal that would gimme a marshall sound. This is the one they told me about, and after checking harmony-central, I was sold.

The only thing I would wish for it would be another footswitch to turn on and off the midboost, as it does raise your volume. While the SCP satisfies my boost needs, if I wanna sound like brian may I've gotta bend over and hit that switch.

It's an awesome pedal, and the only reason I don't give it a 10 is that it's freakin expensive for a single purpose pedal, but all other things considered it's the best one on the market for almost any type of rock sound.

This one took me awhile to get the sound I wanted. The manual is very good, and it was easy to get a good sound, but considerable tweaking was needed to get what I was looking for. I ended up switching the 12ax7 for a 5751. You're not supposed to do that, but I doubt if I would have kept the pedal. I've got other distortions that come very close to the stock Hot British. That said, I wish it had a real Mid control to it, not just switches.

Stock, this pedal sounds very Marshally, just like they say. It's not a polite pedal. It doesn't clean up when you back off on the guitar volume pot. An overdrive pedal will do that, this is a distortion pedal. A good sound, but a bit too buzzy with the stock 12ax7. So rather than return it, I put a 5751 in the socket, and Presto! It took just enough edge off the hot-rodded Marshall type of sound, but still had plenty of gain. Yea, the manual and circuit board both say "don't do it!", but it now has THE lead-sound-in-a-pedal that I was looking for. Very nice. It rated an 8 stock, a 10 with the new tube, so it gets a 9 here.

The case and knobs are solid. Steel case with rubbery knobs to withstand a fair amount of abuse. The pots are mounted right to case, which is good. Internally however, Radial cut some serious corners. Very thin ciruit boards with PCB mounted plastic jacks. Ack Ack Ack. There are two circuit boards - one for the main guts, and one with the control pots and switches soldered to it. And the 2 circuit boards are connected by a few metal tines. YIKES! Extemely flimsy. If something goes wrong inside, not much chance of repairing it. And changing the tube is ridiculous. Terrible internal layout. So, the case and knobs will survive some serious trauma, but the innards will most likely turn to jelly should someone happen to give it too much verbal abuse. Not sure at all of the design logic here, so handle this thing gently. I'm taking a backup for this pedal.

No idea, they are in Canada, I'm in Southern Califoria, and I switched out the 12ax7 for a 5751. They'll probably tell me to take a long walk off a short pier if anything went wrong with the pedal.

I play a pretty wide variety of styles usually, and I bought this pedal for the high gain stuff. It fits the bill nicely with the mod. Stock, I probably would have returned it or ended up selling it. I actually do like the pedal, but the quality of construction really worries me. Swapping out tubes in Radial pedals is about the most absurd nightmare I've ever seen. It's tube driven. We're guitar players. A lot of us like to swap-out tubes. Hmmm...

In this price range, it's a boutique pedal. Radial needs to take some constuction tips from other pedal makers like Barber, Homebrew, and Keeley. With the mod, I really like the sound of this pedal. Great high-gain Marshall-type tone without the brain damage.

However, here's what it still needs: Give it a mid-range control pot, mount all the jacks (they should be metal) and pots/switches to the case and wire those to the circuit board. Mount the PC board to the case as well. And make it easier to swap tubes. Sheesh. A retail price of a few bucks more won't keep anyone from buying this pedal, and it would be the best tube driven distortion out there.

Whenever I get a new product I just plug it in and go which I did. I knew right off the bat this was going to be a good one. The knobs were all set at 12:00 and it sounded very musical drippind with lush tone.

When I got the pedal I quickly wanted to compare it to the distotion that I have already available in my amp. I run a Orange rockerverb 50 with a 4x12 cab. My typical effcts run is a fulltone fulldrive into the tonebone then into a line 6 delay( big green one )into a boss tremelo pedal then a tuner.When comparing the two The orange distortion was more mid-rangy but very focused and musical. When turning the orange to the clean channel ( very vox ac30 )and hitting the tonebone it was instant bliss. The notes had alot more sizzle and a bit more focus. I was able to use a lighter picking technique which I am always looking for to do the Vai thing. And the noise was lower than the amp by itself in the dirty channel. I kicked the fulltone in expecting to hear a ton of hiss ( running two distortion pedals in a row will do that )and it was still less than the amp by itself and the amp is actually quiet. I have just tried a ton of pedals and for high gain this one is head and shoulders above the rest. Hear is a list of pedals I tried : Carl Martin plexitone, Mesa boogie rocket and the V-twin, Sansamp GT2, MXR doulble shot. TS9 with 808 mod, line 6 distortion and amp modeler. Dont get me wrong I not selling the orange cuz now I have just about any sound I could ever want ( or at least till my next purchase ). I have been playing 30 years and will buy/try any and everything possible for the perfect tone that is always just beyond the horizon ( you gear nuts no what I am taking about). Hope this helps

I have to give it a 10 !!

forgot to mention below that valve changes cannot be done easily or quickly!...in order to change the valve you have to literally take it all apart - pull the knobs off and unscrew the pot shafts, unscrew the footswitch nut, unscrew the jackplug nuts (manual explains exactly how to take it apart - excellent manual btw).

if it wasn't such a rigmarole i'd be experimenting with different valves. as it is i wont bother until the stock tube wears out.
it's a shame that there isn't a screw-on plate or hatch on the bottom that you could just undo and reach in to change the valve - a hole the size of an E.H. small clone battery compartment would probably be big enough. ah well, nothings perfect.

straight out the box i set everything halfway and went from there easily. what sets it apart are the 3-way mini switches that tweak the highs, 'lo' mids, and 'hi' mids to preset eq curves - a very good feature.

this is the best distortion pedal i've ever owned/tried. however, compared to most players i haven't bought that many pedals in the last 15 years of playing, and here in Britain there just isn't the choice that American players have (the average music shop here will generally only stock the mainstream: boss, zoom, digitech, dod, and E.H. if you're lucky).
this is much better than my former boss od-2 and gt-3, and has now surpassed my visual sound route 66 (formerly my best ovedrive pedal). i'm using it with a 1995 reissue '63 fender vibroverb. it's great to be able to go from fender clean and mild dirt to marshall grind without having to a/b between 2 amps. good sustain, harmonics and controlled feedback with single notes. classic rock to chunky old school hard rock and metal rhythm sounds. doesn't have the modern nu-metal tones however (hurray!)
i wish i still had the '72 marshall 100w superlead head and cab that i sold in 1994 just so i could hear what it would sound like with this pedal! damn regets!
also, the tone controls are active so if you crank the bass and treble it will be louder (but also noisier).

seems solidly built. the knobs and switches are a little bit exposed to being kicked off, and the dc input is close to the output jack (potential problem if using angled jacks like i do on my pedal board). i've only gigged it once so far but have done many rehearsals with it aswell as much home use. the edge of one of the switches has a sliver of plastic shaved off - could've been caused by my shoe accidently kicking it, so the mini switches and knobs are a bit close to the on/off footswitch for my liking. i've only had it a few months so it's too soon to give a proper rating yet.

never had the experience. they're built in canada and i wouldn't bother shipping it unless it was free to do so under warranty.

great. the best one so far. i'm not a pedal junkie so i haven't had that much to compare it to, but i think i can tell when something sounds good, and i had a big smile on my face when i first plugged into this pedal. it's expensive for what it is, but much cheaper than buying a second amp. it makes playing more fun for me.

sound in itself is very subjective , we all know that. this unit has a lot of variances available for you to tweek. manual is very helpful. but if you've spent 2-300 $ on a pedal, it's a given you should know how to tweek.

traynor 40 watt combo, marshal ext cab, strat, jem. there's a little noise when every things at 11, hint: if you must go to 11, go buy your self a tsl 100 watt head. the overall quality of this pedal is impeccable. solid , quality fittings and junctions. the distortion is very, very, convincing. for a pedal that emulates a marshall. the key is to use it in conjunction with a warm tube amp rated at 40 watts or more , on the clean channel. then it'll shine. this is no mesa, or randall, it's marshall all the way.

absolutely no problems. but it's a machine , so you never know. would you cross the sahara in a landcruiser? you'll most likely make it , but then again....

never had to deal with support.

i play legato , melodic rock. i get a nice creamy tone out of it for lead playing. I use it in conjunction with a maxon 808 re issue that i sometimes use to boost this pedal to bring it over the top. both are very expensive pedals but both are worth it. if it were lost or stolen, i'd definetely look into buying it again with the insurance money. it sure beats toting around a tsl 100. as stated above, the options on this particular pedal are enormous. there are definetely a few sweet spots in it and a few lemon areas. the key is to let your ears and your fingers pull the tone out of the pedal for you. a definete god send, as far as i'm concerned, without having to shell out 2500 for a tsl.

This is a review of the Radial Tone Bone Hot British distortion pedal. The pedal, which features one 12AX7 preamp tube, is housed in a rugged sheet metal case and features controls (pots) for LEVEL, HIGH, LOW, CONTOUR, DRIVE, and also has three slide switches for TOP END, VOICING, and MID BOOST, and a footswitch for switching the unit off. Dialing in your desired tone isn't too difficult if you keep it simple (contols at 12 O'Clock). However, it is possible to get carried away with the assortment of tone controls available to the user. This can result in some rather unpleasant tones if you are not careful. The user manual does an adequate job of explaining the features and dialing in various settings.

I play the Tone Bone with a stock 2004 Gibson Gary Rossington Les Paul and Marshall 50 watt 1987X half-stack w/ 4 X 12" Greenbacks. I can get tones remeniscent of Duane Allman, Jimmy Page, Slash, Billy Gibbons, etc (when the unit is working!) See below. Right now, I use a THD Hot Plate and Ibanez TS-808 to overdrive my Marshall. This gets me the tone I really like.

Unfortunately my Tone Bone cuts out after about 15-20 minutes of use. It causes my rig to basically go dead until I toggle the footswicth once or twice to get it back up. I tried relacing the 12AX7 with a new tube but it still cuts out. I'm going to send back to the factory (in Canada) when I get around to it. In the meantime it makes a great paper weight or door stop. Obviously I can't rely on it or use it on a gig without a backup. I'm very dissapointed considering it cost me $229.00.

I contacted Radial Engineering a got a "RA #" so I plan to send it back to the factory for repairs. The jury is still out on the quality of customer support until I receive my unit back from repairs. Hopefully it will work properly and I can revise the reliabilityu and customer support scores.

I play classic rock from the 60's and 70's. I have been playing guitar off and on for 30 years.I would NOT buy another Radial Tone Bone based on my experience with this one. Right out of the box it failed. It's junk. There are much better distortion pedals out there that are more reliable. I prefer my Ibanez TS-808. It is simpler, more reliable, and sounds great.

This is a pretty easy pedal to get a good sound out of. Manual is very simple and to the point, and offers more than a few sample settings to get you started. The Eric Johnson setting is a good one for my basic sound, with a few tweaks. But pretty simple, and very sensative to tweakers...

I use this with a Rivera R-55 and either Fender or PRS guitars. Pretty quiet, even after an Analog Man Mini BiComp. Depending on your settings and how you approach it it can cut through wonderfully or turn to mud. Be careful using it to add oomph to an already distorted amp channel. Easy to miscalculate and have thick goo to wade through. Powering up the Rivera's clean channel, though, this sounds TERRIFIC anywhere I set it.

I've only used it for two gigs so far, but the build quality is very good. Anticipate no problems.

Good little distortion box for single channel amps. Wish I still had my old Top Hat to try this on...

I am updating my last post, why? Because I have gotten to know this pedal better. First of all, as far as changing the tube, no I haven't tried to yet, Second, Radial only suggests you do it every 2 to 3 years. The manual clearly states how to change the tube. Yes you have to take the whole unit apart, but any person with any mechanical/eletrical knowledge should have no problem. I am not worried about it, and the pure fact that this pedal sounds so awesome far outweighs any technical considerations.

I am using it in front of my THD Univalve. I wasn't able to get the singing/searing lead tones out of the Univalve on its own. The Univalve is a GREAT amp, but it needed some help for solo's. Like I said before there is a noise consideration, but any tube amp pushed to the limit will make noise. I have chosen the "Early Led Zeppelin" patch from Radial's manual. I run this into the clean channel of the THD and my solos soar. I use a Behringer SNR-1000 noise reduction post Tonebone to cut out any in-between noise. I then edit my wavefiles intro and outro to get rid of any "play-volume" noise. I bought a Ibanez Tube Screamer reissue TS-808, and that unit sucks compared to this.

Yes, built like a tank.

This is the best distortion pedal I have ever heard. In 1978 I had a MXR Disotrion+, "The Tonebone is better". In 1980 I had a original version RAT, "The Tonebone is better". In 1997 I had a reissue RAT, "The Tonebone is better". In 1999 I had a original 2.0 Line 6 POD, "The Tonebone is better". In 2004 I had a reissue Ibanez TS-808 Tube Screamer, "The Tonebone is 10 times better".

I was able to get a good sound out of it right away, "It is noisy though", I compare it to any tube effect, "CRANKED = NOISE", it is just the nature of the beast. If you expect to sound like your favorite artist, then get out your wallet. This is a very simple "MOD" pedal, ie:"no patches here" except if you manually change sounds. The manual is short and comprehensive.

I am spoiled and can afford to get the stuff this pedal needs, to make it sound great. So here goes my diatribe on my gear. A noise reduction unit is a must, "especially for recording". I am only recording with the RADIAL at this time, haven't tried it live yet. Here is my set-up. GUITARS= Brian Moore i1.13 and i2.13 with Seymour Duncan Pickups, Ibanez 540 PII with Gibson Tony Iommi Pickups, 1985 Gibson Les Paul classic with the 496R and 500T Gibson Pickups. PEDALS "In Order", Morley A/B box, B side into Roland TU-2 tuner, then into RADIAL Hot British, then to BEHRINGER SNR-1000 noise reduction, then to THD UniValve "Roll Channel" line out to "Hughes & Kettner" MKII Red Box cabinet simulator, then to Yamaha MG16/6FX mixing board with Focusrite Platinum Trackmaster as a insert. Effects include, Lexicon MPX-200 and Yamaha on Board effects through the loop. Stereo outs from Yamaha mixer into M-Audio Omni Delta-66 breakout box into computer using Cubase VST 5.1 recording software.

No Opinion, haven't had it long enough.

No Opinion, haven't had to contact them.

I play Rock/Fusion, been playing for 30 years. I have owned alot of gear over the years, Marshalls galore, Boogies, Laneys, Fenders, Rolands, Peaveys, Rats, Tube Screamers, POD'S, MXR'S etc. etc. etc.
This pedal meets or exceeds the sounds I was able to achieve through all of my previous units, "You just have to be reasonable and realize what you need to make it excell". I do wish it had patch storage though, sorry my POD spoiled me on that. The TONEBONE definetely gets me excited about playing music. The sustain and singing quality are awesome.

Getting out a good sound of it depends on your skills, and your trained or untrained ear, but basically it's hard to get a bad tone out of it.

Editing is straight forward with it's different switches, and the Knobs are very sensitive and responsive, and it's simply fantastic.

The Manual is pretty short of good like all manuals, it tells you what you need to know basis.

I used this with my Framus Renegade Pro guitar.
It ain't making more noise than other pedals out there.
I usually used with one or two effect pedals , chorus and delay.

I don't use Fender type guitars or pickups so for that matter,
it sounds incredible with Humbuckers, a lot of crunch, power, and clarity, it ain't muddy like other stuff I've heard.

It's built solid indeed.
The only issue though is that sometimes for very unknow reason the input jack gets little loose, a few turns and it's firm again,
not a problem really.

I'd definitely use it in a gig without backup, it's got great tone and makes every medium Amp to sound like a very good Amp.

My local dealer is very helpful and reliable so No worries there.

My music played is 80's rock so this thing is a match in heaven for that brand of music.

I'm a musicians for 14 years now, and arrangements and production is what I do mainly.

I no longer own it, I sold all my pedals and Amp as well, Had to cut budget,If I ever get the chance again, Not sure I'd go for it,
I think I'll stick to Rackmount Formula.
If It got stolen I'd be mad as hell!!! I wouldn't be able to afford another one... sigh...

I compared it to many pedals before I decided that's the one for me.
I tried Boss Pedals, Marshals, Line6... you name it...
The only thing I wish it had is maybe little more Gain, that would be fantastic for soloing, but it's great as it is.

It's a very good and important tool, inspiring indeed,
I highly recommend this to anyone looking for a different tone.

This pedal nails a great controllable distortion for almost any player who digs older heavy rock ala VH and Racer X Yngwie Malmsteen you can dial these tones in almost immiediately. With a very informative manual for tweaking tones and performing a tube change if neccessary i would say its all encompasing.

I'm using my own handbuilt super strat outfitted with a floyd rose and dimarzio pickups specifically a evolution in the bridge and a fastrack 1 in the neck i'm playing it through a peavey 5150 with a behringer four twelve with 100 watt jensens. The great thing about the pedal is that it totally reacts to your position with the amp making it easy to control feadback and noise. With the true bypass you cant go wrong with this unit. Once again great for Racer X van halen and yngwie. The ultimate overdriven sound for me!

Built solid with the steel chassis and has very long tube life as well.

I have heard they back up there products well but the durability and satisfaction has given me no reason to contact them

My playing style is very power metal oriented with some prog influences of early dream theatre i like to play racer x and yngwie stuff as well and this pedal meets me needs much better then the regular distortion of my 5150 and my GT-6 and my MT-2. The true bypass was the make or break for me when buying it because i i realy wanted that in my setup and the tone speaks for itself. If this pedal were stolen i would but another one because it has become a part of my playing and its extremely veratile.

Easy interface if you think not then well you should get something with just 3 knobs. Some people complain that it has too many controls that you'd never remember the settings you like. Do you remember when you first played a guitar and had no idea what the hell you were doing? Learning applies to amps/effects too. How about windows? You didn't just up and know everything and that's far more complex anyhow. :)

For the guy who picks up radio stations... YES it is a problem with your gear leaking RFI's(radio Freq interference). I had that too on a few pedals...hell even my amp had that problem. Get a good cord to go between your guitar and the amp, but not 20 feet long or something. The shorter the better. Also it's a must to get a power conditioner/filter(furman). Plug all your stuff into that. If you have rack gear which I doubt that is most likley your problem. Never mix balanced and unbalanced cables(get a EBtech device)

The sound on this is super. Someone mentioned it's too dirty at minimum drive... HELLO it's called HOT BRITISH DISTORTION<-note the DISTORTION. Also, someone said it was too noisey for a pedal at this price. The only pedal where you do not have interference/hiss are on FAKE DIGITAL Stuff! Don't get me wrong, I too at times love harsh digital death metal sorta stuff. I'm guilty as charged with a genesis-3. That is brutal as fuck, but serves a purpose and has NO noise. It has a noise gate built in and I use that to abruptly cut off for tight fast palm mutes. That's the only thing I use that for(don't give a shit about the effects and such it has). It blows away even the new line6 uber pedal, the crappy Warp drive, boss MT-2, etc.

Anyone who has real gear has a noise suppressor or gate. It's just a fact. Yes. It sucks to have to plop down money just to make something not hiss. It's like going to the dentist to have him clean your teeth even though you brush everyday.

dont know..didnt have it long enough. Who cares if you have to change a tube in it. It's not brain surgery!!!!

This is one of the best deals in this type of product. Canada makes these and they kick ass.

Easy to use. Lots of presets in the manual. Just start with one of those. I use it with fairly low amount of distortion, but even at its lowest setting, it distorts quite a bit. It has 5 knobs and three switches. So there a lots of options. Just put everything in the middle or look in the manual to get started. It takes some tweaking. The manual is adequate.

I use it with my Blues Jr. Not noisy. The effects sound good. This is the pedal to use if you want your Fender to sound like a Plexi, well almost. Think Eric Clapton "Sunshine of your Love". Lots of others. Best sounding pedal I've heard. It has a tube in it's circuit. Also, it is truely "True disconnect". It disconnects the circuit even when there is no power to the pedal (it doesn't work with batteries, comes with a power supply). So it does not color the sound at all when turned off. Also, no noticible click when activating the pedal with the foot button, (so long as you are not sounding a note). About as good as it gets, pedalwise. They make another pedal for "Fender" distortion, called the Tonebone Classic.

Dependable so far.

Haven't used them, but I hear thay back the product up.

I play classic rock, blues, rockabilly. I am an old rocker. It is a better pedal than my Barber Direct Drive, and the Barber is not bad. The tone is very amp like. By that I mean it sounds like a distortion channel would sound on my Fender, if it had one (it has a distortion knob, but no channel). This is British (read Marshall) distortion. So now I have a two channel amp, and both Fender and Marshall sound! My Blues JR is a great amp BTW. Whatever you do, get a tube amp. They have the TONE!

Relatively simple to tweak. 5 knobs and 3 switches and all sound good with in front of my amp. The annoying thing is replacing the tube, which requires you to disassemble the unit, including taking off the knobs. The manual is straightforward and has settings suggestions for popular tones.

My guitars are Ibanez RG250DX w/ stock pups, Dean Avalance w/ X2N's, and Ibanez RG220 w/ EMG81's. They all sound good through the tonebone. The only other pedal in my setup is an MXR Smart Gate which really takes care of the noise when the Tonebone is on high gain. The unit is a high gain pedal so some noise is to be expected, but mine was a "scratch and dent" item - there wasn't a scratch on it but the tube was loose!!! Shame on musicianfriend.com. I think this may be to blame for some of the noise but I'm not sure. I mean, the tube prongs were slightly damaged. But like I said, the noise is not a real major issue for me since I'm usually playing hard and heavy.

I run this preamp through my cool little Tech-21 Trademark 10 watt single channel modeling amp w/ 10" Celestion and the sound is awesome. With the versatily of the Trademark I can get truly impressive heavy metal sounds. It also does good with rock/blues if that's your thing. I've also tried playing it through a Tech-21 Powerengine-60 (just a 60watt power cab with "transparent" tone) and I get that fat vintage tube tone.

It has 3 very useful switches: Top End (flat, dark, brigh), Mid Boost (out, 7dB, 14dB), and Voicing (out, fat, notch). The notch with cut mids. There's a contour which goes from scooped, bassy to a thigh, midsy, crunchy. When you boost the mids there is a small amount of noise introduced. There are also controls for Bass, Trebble, Gain, and Level. I normally have the gain maxed on the Trademark but on the Tonebone I'll usually go from 0 to about 5. I'm not gain crazy, just tone crazy.

You can't get clean sounds out of this but who cares cause I'm a headbanger and distortion is an everyday part of my diet and this badboy really does deliver. (I guess maybe if you use an EQ to squash the input you can get cleans). What you can definitely get kickass heavy metal rhythm and hot lead tone. Along with the Trademark I can get classic and modern high-gain Marshall, Mesa/Boogie and Fender tones with a unique quality that truly inspires me to play more. I was thinking of buying a Tonebone Classic for leads but decided to order an MXR 10 band EQ instead.

I've tried playing through Marshall (MG, AVT, JCM), Line 6, Johnson, Crate GT, Vox AD60, and I can honestly tell you that my current set up blows them all away. I guess playing through Line 6 is OK if you don't mind bad tone because they are great for variety and versatility but I would much rather hear a high gain tube tone versus a cold harsh digital tone.

I'm giving it a 9 because I'm just never quite satisfied, but like I said, this unit will enhance your sound better than most units out there.

I don't play live but it seem like it could take some punishment. It's a solidly built steel casing that seems sturding enough. I haven't had any problems with it.

I play thrash/death/black metal and this pedal makes me cream my pants everytime I play it. It can achieve very creamy, warm tones or crunchy, heavy tones for psychos like me. AC/DC or Zeppeling, Metallica or Slayer, The Haunted or Arch Enemy, Hendrix or Satriani, and even death metal sickness like Cryptopsy and Immolation. Again, I can do this along with a Trademark amp (which gets a 10 on its own, by the way). If lost or damaged I might try the Tonebone Classic first before buying another. I hate nothing about it except that I think it should have two channels and then we'd really be in business. But, as-is, it's just great and I have no complaints.

The manual outlines most of the popular settings. The user can tweak from there to get their own sounds. This pedal is pretty intuitive.

Custom LH Strat with SD hotstack, Jem LH 555 (only model for leftys), Schecter C-1 Plus, Ibanez LH RG 550, etc... I run this through a THD Univalve (w/Avatar 2x12) on the clean (roll) channel. It doesn't matter what guitar you play, this pedal will sound excellent with tweaks. This is a specific pedal, so expect British type distortion (duh). This is by far the best distortion pedal that I have played. It is noisy when dimed, but quiet on most settings. Also, please note that you need to plug into a quality amp. I have found that this pedal will not make a crappy sounding amp sound like a British Stack. Start with a descent amp, and you will hear the true ability of this pedal.

I have had this thing for around 6 months and dropped it a couple of times. The pedal works like new. Not sure how long the tube will last, but the unit looks very well made.

If you want a British type distortion and don't want to spend the $$$ on a Marshall stack, this is THE pedal. I play mostly rock, so this pedal is a staple for me. Played through a good amp, this is the best British type distortion pedal on the market. Try it you will see/hear the difference. If this thing were stolen, I would definitely get another one. I bought one because of these reviews. This pedal is that good!

Basic distortion pedal: Level, high, low Contour (mids character) and drive. There are also several filter switches that can drastically change the character of the sound. one button, on or off. Any mumbleoid could figure this out.

I am using this box with 2 schecter avenger 7strings with seymore duncan invader and distortion pickups and a Gibson les paul Goth with EMGs. The amp is a Ashdown peacemaker 40: 4 12ax7s, 4 EL84s, Celestion vintage 30 speaker. Every cable is Monster or Planet waves.

The sound:
THis IS the closest thing I have ever come across that sounds like a marshall stack in a pedal. I A/B'ed it against my MetalZone and the Boss was laughable by compairison. Be forewarned that this is the "marshall sound". If you are looking for a Nu-Metal Mesa sort of crunch this aint the pedal for you. THis pedal does perfectly pull off Randy Rhoads tone from the live "tribute" album perfectly! You can also get dead on over driven Plexi tones from it. You know, where it sounds like the speaker has grown hair.

However, I am using this pedal to push a class A tube amp. I have not yet put it through my Peavy Bandit 112. Probably wont ever. it sounds great where its at.

Cons:
Slight noisiness from the pedal at higher drive levels and when the High is turned up. a Boss noise suppressor should stop this.

IT takes some tweeking for the low B on my 7 strings not to come out as total mush. it can be done though.

Built like a tank. there is a tube in it, so as long as I use some common sense it will be cool.

This pedal is more than double the price of any boss distiortion box. You better expect something special, right? This pedal is so fuckin dope you could smoke it. how that for an endorsement.

I play a variety of music ranging from the styles of deathmetal and nu-metal to fusion and classic rock. I am a guitar teacher and have spent a couple years working in music stores, particularly the "big guy". I have become a total Tone Snob. This pedal is great but WARNING!: THIS IS NOT A "DO IT ALL" PEDAL! This is not the Ideal distortion for anything detuned and fast as hell. The distortion has a loose feel and absolutely Killer Tone! But is not a Bogner Uberschall. That being said, I can rave about what this pedal IS.

If you are a fan of the "marshall sound" you need this pedal. I love that sound. Through the years countless guitarists that have inspired me have used this sound. Now I have it! The Hot British (with tweeking) can emulate the tones from a JCM 800, 900 and Plexi better than anything I have heard to date. Enough said.

This pedal is fairly simple to use. Lots of options.

It's hard to believe this is a pedal. The distortion rivals many preamp devices. I thought the Triaxi's distortion was good but this is better.
I gigged with this last weekend for the first time. The feedback got out of hand a bit but I was playing very loud. I really liked the sound. I had flashbacks of early EVH tone. I did my usual "Eruption" piece in the 3rd set and it really made my playing smoother.
I really don't like pedals but I think of this more as a preamp section. This purchase was a no-brainer.

Only had this 2 weeks

no comment

I've owned many amps and pedals over my 28 years of playing and gigging. Yep this one's a keeper.

This pedal is incredibly easy to get a GOOD sound out of it and with a little tweaking (it is a tweakers dream) you can get INCREDIBLE sounds out of it. Subtle overdrive tones similar to a TS808 all the way to Dimebag Darrell over the top scooped tone and all points in between. There are enough tone shaping options on this pedal to get just about any sound you want out of it! A basic understanding of tone shaping controls will make it easy to use but some people might get confused (like i do trying to use computer recording software) and that is why i rated it as i did.

This pedal absolutely SCREAMS!!!! I have had it for two years and still honestly look forward to plugging into it everytime i play. i bought it direct from the tonebone website using paypal when that was the only way you could buy it. it has great note definition, is amazingly responsive to my guitars volume control, none of the excessive noise that i hear reviewers talking about here but you have to accept a bit of it when you buy a high-gain pedal. also, maybe my hearing isn't as good as it should be...hell i am a guitar player....we love it loud!!!! it also sounds like the best hot-rodded marshall you ever want to hear. Some people don't like the marshall tone...don't buy this pedal!!! I use it with either my music man john petrucci or my PRS single cut. i run it into a morley bad horsie wah and then right into either my 65 twin re-issue (the best sounding set-up) or into my 1959 plexi re-issue. both amps and guitars sound incredible with this pedal (in fact, all the guitars and amps i have tried with it sound incredible) but the 65 twin i have sound the best. great fender clean and then balls-to-the-wall distortion. i keep a fairly simple set-up because i dont like having too many things to trip me while i am on stage. the plexi with it is a great tone too but a bit over the top because of the early break-up in the tubes but still a ROCKIN' guitar tone! i hope i described it well enough. I LOVE THIS PEDAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

when i got it, it was fine for about 3 months and then the switch went bad in it. in the middle of a gig i was having to hit the switch 4 or 5 times to get it to come on. how embarrassing!!!! after the gig my drummer even commented on how crappy it was that it happened. i got the switch replaced and have had no other problems. i contacted radial engineering/tonebone and they said that the bug has since been worked out. i rate it based on my experience.

only had to deal with them once (see above) and the owner responded quickly to my email about fixing it but i took it to the local shop because shipping to canada and back was more expensive.

I have been playing for about 18 years. I, like most guitar players, am a certified gear junkie. Certifiable is probably a more appropriate description of me... Anyway, i have several guitars and several amps-mostly high end stuff but not boutique. i used to swear by the boss ds-1 and since this pedal i cannot even stand to look at a ds-1. i prefer to play hard-rock/heavy metal, i have played in a full-on disco showband, top-40, blues, even country (i guess i am a musical whore). i feel fairly well versed in most of it but always go back to grinding (zakk wylde style!!) and whatever i play i have a very useable tone fro anything. again, it is incredible and very versatile (remember...all the knobs) and since i got the switch fixed i have not had a single problem with it. i am going to buy another very soon and if they both get stolen i will buy two more after i get out of jail for assault!!!!!

5 knobs:level,low,high,contour,drive.
3 switches:top end,voicing,mid boost.
It may take a little more time to find your sweet spot with this one
than say a Digitech or Maxon but once you are there,you will be more than happy.One point off however because of the 15v wall wart needed to power it up.

After 2 years of extensive use as my main distortion box,here is my opinion of this Canadian-made beauty,i will make it short because it has all been said before.

PROS:
-Super beefy,hot-rodded,classic metal tones(ala Maiden,Priest,VH...)
-Very smooth and natural-sounding,does not sound like a pedal.
-Sounds great with tube or solid-state amps.
-Reliable and easy to service,high quality pedal.
-SOUNDS MUCH BETTER THAN ANY MARSHALLS I HAVE EVER HEARD OR TRIED,
HEADS OR COMBOS,TUBE OR SOLID-STATE OR HYBRID,AND THE JACKHAMMER
PEDAL-WHAT A JOKE!

CONS:
-The wall wart.
-Too dirty at minimum drive setting.
-A bit noisy at maximum drive setting.
-Hefty price tag(two crappy BOSS pedals for that price).

I'm giving a rating of 9 for that truly great pedal(nothing is perfect).You want the old Van Halen sound?TONEBONE HOT-BRITISH.

Very reliable.Strongly built.It comes with a Tesla 12ax7 tube.Good.
I always take care of my Tonebone because i love it.I will keep it
for as long as i will be playing the guitar.Only one thing though:
The wall wart provided with the pedal looks kind of cheap.Also,tube
failure can happen,but my Tonebone still sings with the stock tube after two years.No problem.

I sent an e-mail one time asking if i could change the 12ax7 for a
12au7 in order to bring the aggressiveness down a bit.They replied
the next day telling me to only use a 12ax7 tube to prevent damage
to the pedal.I think they are ok.I bought my Tonebone Hot-british at
Musique Gagne et Freres in downtown Quebec City,a good place to buy
by the way.If you go there,ask for Steve:"BIG GUY GENTLEMAN".

Plugged between my LesPaul Classic and Ampeg 15w tube amp,the Tonebone Hot-British really helps me to capture the sound and feeling
i love when playing guitar.To me for the kind of music i like to play,the Hot-British hits the bull's-eye,nothing compares.
If you are into hard-rock and classic metal of the 80's -all those
great bands that were there 20 years ago and are still rocking today
(Iron Maiden,Judas Priest,VanHalen,ACDC,Dio etc...)-i really suggest
you should give the Tonebone Hot-British a try.If you are into blues,
country or speedy-thrashy musics,don't waste your time.

Very easy to get a good sound; just plug it in & turn the dials. Great for those who like to play around & adjust; maybe not so great for those who don't like to tinker.

I use a SRV Strat (with Joe Barden pups) > '72 Fender Silverface Deluxe Reverb (that's been professionally blackfaced). The Hot British (like the Classic Distortion) is very quiet & has a great range of tones. Very "British" like the name implies - much more "Marshall-ish" than say "Vox-ish". This pedal does have about 30% more gain than the Classic.

Very sturdy construction. Quality components. No issues at all (see my rating on the Classic Distortion).

I emailed Radial regarding Dealers in Canada & they were very prompt (1 day) in responding

I actually took both the Hot British & Classic Distortion home to try out & ended up in keeping both! I play blues, blues-rock & classic rock. I really thought (note past tense) that this pedal & the Tonebone Classic were THE overdrive pedals. I've been through some great pedals - Klon, Keeley-modded TS-9/TS-808, John Landgraff Dynamic Overdrive & I really thought the Tonebones were the ones. That is until I tried a Stephenson Amplification Stage Hog. The Stage Hog does ALL the tones of BOTH the Classic & Hot British PLUS WAY more. The Stage Hog doesn't color your amp, gives you fantastic string definition, and interacts with your guitar's volume & tone controls in a fantastic way. Plus, with the Power Scaling feature you can enjoy cranked, thick overdriven tone at whisper levels. Check out the Stephenson Amplification website -http://www.stephensonamps.com/stagehog.htm Mark Stephenson is an amp guru! He has fantastic customer service & knows tone. I can't recommend his products high enough! The Tonebones - well I dumped both of them within a week after getting the Stage Hog. If you have any questions about the Stage Hog I would be more than happy to reply. And no, I am not affiliated with Stephenson Amps in any way; I just really believe that Mark Stephenson has products that deliver "the tone" that guitar players have spent hundreds (thousands) of dollars searching for. I strongly encourage you to check the Stage Hog out!

Okay, so it's not really a "plug-n-play" pedal. Still, once you know what everything does on it, tweeking sounds is no problem. The key here is the Contour knob. What this does, basically, is dial the pedal into the amp you're using. Roughly, it's Fenders to the right and Marshall to the left (Boogie hard right). Actually, with my Princeton Reverb, it's set a little past midway, maybe one o'clock. But make no mistake, you must dial in the sound for the amp you're using (that's the price you pay for having a pedal you can use with any amp). That's what all the little switches and knobs are for. Then again, you're all probably familiar with versatile gain pedals. What you might not be expecting is all this combined with a pedal that sounds so very natural, and just plain good. Still, guys who've played nothing but gear made from bedrock, flintstone, and bear skins may be put off by all the complexity and become easily confused, so it gets a "9" here (what happened to a "features" category?). But to 99% of the players out there, no problem. It is still, in essence, a very simple one-sound-at-a-time pedal.

I wrote a review a while ago, having only played this through one amp, the THD UniValve. However, I missed plugging it into a blackface Fender (or similar "good clean amp"). Simply put, this is the "Marshall in a box" that you've been waiting to plug into your old Fender. Really. Through the UniValve (an already "crunchy" amp), it produced a really modern-sounding pop-punk and modern metal type sound (except better). Through a clean amp (like a Twin Reverb), it sounds like you switched amps, and are playing through a slammin old plexi with a booster in front - or at least a real good boutique amp on its "plexi on steroids" channel. It really sounds like it was engineered for this. Whatever kind of Marshall sound you want is in here. We do a couple of AC/DC covers, and with my '67 SG, it sounds like Angus doing backflips out of my Princeton. Actually, my SG is actually pretty versatile now, thanks in part to this pedal. I'll typically leave it on all night, and back off on my volumes, ramping them up gradually depending on how much gain I want for a certain song. The highs don't pierce, but they do add definition (neck pickup still sounds snappy rolled back to 4), I just compensate by rolling the bridge pickups tone knob back a few notches (and its volume typically higher). My Strats also sound really wonderful through it. The Strats give it a nice "kick", as the singles have a nice impact, wheras the SG has a smoother but more ripping "explosive" sound. AND, I rarely move a switch or twist a knob when changing guitars - most of the time I just plug it in and don't mess with anything, except my guitar's controls, which is really nice, as I can concentrate more on my playing now, rather than thinking of which knob-twisting, switch-flipping sequence I need to execute next.

The exact tonal qualities of this pedal really depend on the amp you want to run it through, as well. Like I said, through an amp with a little crunch, it takes on a completely different character. All the "transients" smooth out a little more, gain settings get gonzo (you'll wanna keep it low for these applications), and, well, it just sounds different. It's a wonderful alternative to the modern Mesa sound. Speaking of which, I ran it also through a Boogie Studio Preamp, and while I felt it sounded rather lackluster through it (the only time this has happened), it STILL sounded better than the Boogie's own gain channel (I've not been crazy about the Boogie since I got the Princeton and the VHT Super Thirty, especially since the Tonebone). I've even heard it run direct into the board (via a Marshall JMP-1 preamp, clean setting) by a guy playing an EMG-equipped Strat (contour dead center), and with one notch up on the mid-boost, it sounded like a miked up 100 watt stack was in the other room. With a few minimal fx, it was like Eric Johnson, Jeff Beck, and David Gilmour all hitting the same note at the same time, or something like that. Amazing!

It has given me no problems thus far, and I expect none. I've had it this long, and it has never so much as made the first strange noise. Could maybe stop a bullet and still work, I dunno. I'm not an engineer. All I can say is, it "looks" reliable.

Never dealt with them. Couldn't say.

Over six months later, I still can't recommend these highly enough. I'm always checking out new gear, among them the endless deluge of overdrive, distortion, fuzz, and boost pedals out there. I still haven't played anything that I thought was in its league. Sure, there's "different but just as good" stuff (at a higher price for the most part), and maybe the Pete Cornish boxes are better (at $500 plus, I sure hope so), but, like I said, if it's out there, I haven't played through it yet. I just wish that, like Barber, they had some kind of "dual-unit" out, maybe, that had both the Classic and Hot British, and you could toggle between them (now, that might make it $400 - BUT, I'd definitely save for it). Or, maybe a Tonebone amp! Heh he!

All in all, this pedal has made my life a lot easier. My one request is that, if you're reading this, PLEASE, don't plug into it, get an immediate sound that's not quite what you want, and go "Naahhh, not for me!" It IS possible to get a "bad" sound out of this thing (in anything this versatile it's positively unavoidable). That means you have to actually turn some of the knobs and maybe even flick a couple of these switches to get your best sounds. But, if you fall into the "I want my Fender to have a Marshall-like gain channel" camp, then this is highly recommended. I've never heard another pedal come this close. Amazingly close. At the very least, it will sound like the gain channel Fenders never had, but should have. At the very least, it provides a good simulation of the attack characteristics of a good old Marshall, combined with its inherent complex and harmonically rich midrange frequencies, both of which are "features" you almost never get in anything other than cranking on old 60's or 70's Marshall stack.

Anyhow, Marshall comparisons aside, this is the best gain pedal I've heard yet for giving your Fender (or other amp with great clean tone) a very wonderful overdrive/distortion channel. I really does sound less like a pedal, and more like a perfectly engineered second channel that was built into your amp, rather than having an "added on" sound that a lot of pedals do. And it gives you a lot of control. What you do with all that power is your business.

This unit is pretty easy to use, but dialing in your own sound might take a few minutes.

The sound quality of this unit is unbelievable. I usually like the cleaner tones but am getting to like the quality of this distortion unit a lot. I use a Holland and a Fender amp and the unit is pretty quiet. If you get into a heavy saturated sound then the unit has some hiss or hum.

No failure yet and the unit seems to be pretty solid.

It this unit got stolen then I would definitely buy another one.

This pedal is pretty easy to use- the knobs are all pretty straight foreward. Probably the biggest issue is that, even though it is versatile and easy to get new sounds out of, you'll probably tend to find one or two sounds on it that kill and use them all the time =)

I'm using my Clapton strat through the ToneBone and into a Hot Rod Deluxe... The sounds is _amazing_. I've been looking for this sound my whole life. I've always been a huge Chilis fan, and this is pretty dead-on when it comes to John's solo tones. Basically, it's so incredibly smooth it doesn't even sound like a guitar any more. There's virutally no attack, and then sustain that literally can be held for minutes at a time. Fantastic sound. Also, it's pretty easy to go from clapton/santana smooth to May-esque gritty OD, to anything in between.

It hasn't broken yet. Feels very sturdy, but I'm definately more careful with it then some other effects due to the tube.

I'm totally glad I bought this pedal- it completely rounded out my rig, and sounds fantastic. I never come on here and rate effects, but this one deserved it. Well done ToneBone!

plug in-turn the knobs and GO! no problems. It's very very easy to get great sounds and to fine tune with all the options. I had a jcm 2000 dsl 100 watt head that sounded great but i DO feel that i have more tonal versatility with this. (mind you, it is still one channel)
the only thing is the power outlet thing. I've always hated having to find power in the pront of the stage but i guess i'll just have to buy an extention cord. no biggie.

oh yeah! this is what it comes down to, right. People who want good tone will endure for it. This tonebone sucka saved my life! I sold my jcm2000 in order to be more protable and picked up a fender hot-rod deville 4x10. While i loved the clean channel, the dirty channels were limiting. They just didn't reflect what i thought my voice should be. I've been using marshall stacks and loved them. But we all know that marshall does not make very good combos and if they do, they are too expensive. I went to my local music shop to try out every pedal that i heard good things about.
I'm talkin' line 6, pod pro, mesa v-twin and bottle rocket, guv-nor and a few others but the tonebone stood truest to my ears.
it sounded about just as much as a real amp distortion channel as possible. Not just any distortion amp channel, a marshall distortion amp. Man, you can go from overdriven niceness to "piss your name on the side of a wall with fire" saturation type distortion. and with those mid boost, and contour adjustment switches i can get more than what i had with my jcm2000.

well, so far so good. just cam back from a little tour and i had no problems

they're canadian! everyone knows that we canadians are nice

When i got my deville, i had already started saving up for my next marshall head. since the tonebone, well, maybe i'll put that money towards a 2x12 mesa cab for more bass responce from my amp. I'm fricken thrilled. Sounds great recorded too.
If you love marshall, and have a good clean amp... why don't you have one yet!? Pshaw!

Very easy to use. Good manual, with lots of intstructions and advertizing. and hey its canadian eh!

Great sounding distortion with lots of variability, I use it through the clean channel on a 50 watt Hiwatt. (cause the "bright" channel is too muddy). Its difficult to get just a little distortion sound, it needs to be driven a bit to get a better quality distortion out of it..but lots of options on creating the sound you want.
biggest issue is the hum. lots of noise from this unit which seems to come from the powerpack which is not as well built as the effect. quite cheezy actually.

I use it to gig all the time..I depend on it...but had to get a noise suppressor to get rid of the hum and noise. Had a bit of an issue with the power pack...had to get a replacement power pack the original died...apparently you cannot leave this unit witht he power pack on but the unit shut off.

Terrible. I've emailed and asked for support on several occasions and did not get a reply.

I play rock, blues, and some country. The unit is good for rock stuff lots of verstatility. I've been playing guitar for about 30 years....if it were lost or stolen...I'd look at other stuff to compare price and noise...For an expensive unit it should not come with the noise problem. and the power pack is cheap. But you gotta like the way the unit itself is built and operates..no question.

Its a pretty straight-forward pedal, with analog knobs for level, highs, lows, contour of the mids, and distortion. The manual has some good tones to start you on finding your own sound, but its important to fiddle with the amp settings to correspond with the dailed in tones.

I use this through my Mesa Boogie Studio .22 (from way back in the day) into a wah and an old overdrive. I Mostly use my Samick Ultramatic because of the versatility, but i take out the strat ever so often. The single coils in the startocaster are pretty noisy, but not squealers (I dont use a really saturated distortion), if your using a strat and you get a lot of noise, something ive found that works is soldering or gluing aluminum foil on the inside cavaties of it so that it shields the electro-magnetic interference. It takes a little time but is rewarding. The sounds i pull from this little box are great, its a really natural distortion especially using a solid tube amp. With my Ultramatic i get a real great emulation of Satriani's sound, and im your using the wah and a little bit of chorus, im usually in nirvana. Hendrix sound is great but if your using a strat with cheap pick-ups, you'll hear them, and its not a good thing.

Its as solid as any stell box made, but i keep it wrapped tightly in a cloth and in my effects case when im playing out. The tube inside is the only concern i have, because if im going to a gig, i dont have any other back-up and breakage is not an option. Dont be stupid, take good care of it and it'll take care of you,

havent dealt with them. Ebay purchase

I been playing seriously for 4 years, but ive done music lessons for all kinds of instruments since i started high school. Guitar is the one that i stuck with. I play instrumental rock, with some metal and blues(roots), but if it aint got a solo, it better make up for it,(heard of silverchair? theyre one of those exceptions but im a singer too, so everything equals out) There are essentials i have to have in a good tone. The dry distotion is perfect for rhythm playing, but leads require more "umph" in order to stand out, so i have an overdrive pedal, and when im live... a chorus is always on (3 piece band, its a mixing thing).
For the money its a great piece of equipment, but its tempermental, and finding your tone is a process of time and fine tuning. When you find that sound, you'll know it... cuz it clicks in. i love the way it sounds, and how easy it is to use, and the overtones it gives. Harmonics and artificial harmonics are the things that make my music unique, and it shines through here.
if youve got a great clean sounding amp, but no reliable distortion, this pedal will help you get just that, instead of trying to wire two amps into a live setting where you have to switch about (if youve seen eric johnsons set-up you know what i mean). I'm thinking about getting the classic distortion after hearing how good this sounds, to add a different layer to my sound.

Not too difficult to use. Lot's of opportunities to change the sound with all sorts of settings. Too many? Cannot save settings - hope you have a good memory.

This is where I have a real issue. My Tonebone is much to noisy - hiss, hum, and a whining sound. For this type of money, it should be dead silent. After paying $229, it does not seem right that you would have to add a noise reduction unit. Now we are up to $300.

No experience here.

Again,

No opinion

The tone is excellent but I could not deal with the noise. This pedal is 3-4X the cost of other good pedals. I found the Digitech Hot Rod Distortion to sound just as good at less than 1/3 of the price and is less noisy. The Zoom Driver 5000 is also a better pick and so are the Keeley modded Boss pedals.

Ended up selling mine on E-bay for a loss. Overall rating is based on the value considering the price, sound quality and noise

It's very easy to use although there will always be someone who will screw it up.. But not me. I, not the other reviewer have all the best gear and all the talent.He's a "me wannabe". This unit has not been upgraded.

I use a Fender custom shop closet classic, in daphne blue(because the color really makes a difference in the tone. Ever here a yellow strat? Aarrrgghh!, a tophat and a Bruno Underground 30.It's hard to get the sound of my favorite artists (mostly because they copy me) but I have been studying old Partridge Family videos and I think I'm getting closer.Seriously I owned and have owned a Full DriveII, a Full drive 70's pedal, a Klon, a rat (we all make mistakes), a Sov1, (big mistake)and other boxes and this one really is the best so far. No dissappointments at all. There are no "10"'s.

How dependable is it... well it borrowed $ from me and I haven't gotten it back yet but I am hoping to soon.The unit is built real strong and comes wqith a wall wart. The cord on the wall wart is really cheesy. Probably made in some third world back alley sweat shop, but it does work.

N/A

I would buy it again, used.

This a no brainer, plug it in and go!!!

Amazing!!!! Not only do you hear every note, they bloom with the vocal vowel sounds of an expensive Modded tube amp. And, you don get that uneven harmonic wash, weird overtones, or any cloudiness that is associated with many overdrive pedals.
I have all the mainstay pedals, and some through backs but this is the STUFF!!!!

I put this unit in front of a Sparkling Super clean rhythm sound and it sounded like
a full tilt Marshall. I?m actually using a Line 6 and I really think it would be hard to
tell that I?m not using a tube amp. I want to have a small rig so I really didn?t want
to buy a 5150 or JCM2000, so this really fit the bill. I have my super clean rhythm
sound and my super distorted sounds w/any where in between ? all at the push of a button.

This pedal is not HYPE, I have been playing for 29 yrs and Hot British is a Godsend I have been trying to capture this feel and sound for 20 yrs. I?ve had 12 space racks w/slaving systems and power amps using Marshall w/Soldano hot mods, Boogie III, Boogie Studio, Kasha Rock Mod and Fender Roc Pro 1000 amps. All great amps but for
me this pedal is the ticket. You don?t have to have a monstrous rack to sound like you
favorite guitarist.

Just got it - but it's built very solid and compact

n/a

I have to always have this pedal in my rack. I hope Radial makes a rack version w/presets perhaps midi implementation. (but, then I couldn?t hide it from prying eyes.. LOL j/k)

out of the box.As easy as apple pie. Patches? what patches? It's not A rackmount. this baby is special

Doesn't matter.I have the equivelant of a music store. /vintage / custom shop Instruments.the tone bone is not noisy as far as I'm concerned.Unless you are a stupid moron & turn the level & gain all the way up! (spoiled children) as far as guitar,amp,stomp boxes,rackmount gear, I have it all I'm lucky,& good .I'm blessed. I own nothing but the best,because I have been buying & collecting since I was 18. and I do not sell anything.Mostly I use A Clapton & a mark III Mesa Boogie I have an old roland stereo chorus that I only use for recording.It also has A feature that they call vibrato,although its similar to A Leslie rotating speaker.Not very practical for gigs because you have to constantly adjust the gain. Lately since I rehearse in a very small room, I use a fender bassman vintage mid 60's and the other gtr player uses my mid 60's twin. At gigs he uses my 100 watt marshall super lead, and I use either the mark III boogie or my vintage 50 watt marshall. I have always been able to get the sounds of my favourites,However, the tonebone makes life easier.Obviously the internal tube is the key. Even my solid state Roland sounds like a tube amp with the tonebone .It's cool for small rooms where you don't want to haul a heavy tube amp. I have all the best fx's. What do you mean by very good or vsry bad?.It begins with heart,soul,technique ,& fingrs (girls love that)I give it a 10 and God's gift to me was my ears.

looks tuff & rugged Like A tank or an old shcure mic.However I just received it so I dont know. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.The power (ac cable)looks a bit suspicious so I would suggest an extra one.

Not a clue.I wrote them just to congratulate them on the product.Hopefully they will send me A gift!

A lot of everything.Little classical.I'm a versatile pro.Jazz, fusion, samba,bossa-nova,classic rock,salsa,mambo,latin jazz.disco or dance music ,which I'm not crazy about, however I approach it like R & B which great for rhythm guitar chops. I adore,The lads from Liverpool & Zeppelin are my favourites. I also love Santana, and I adore Jeff Beck & Pat Martino. Not to be confused with Metheny,which is A God. However Martino is simply scary.No the tonebone needs nothing but to be in good hands.Nothing compares .I just can't wait to use it with my grour "Rockstalgia" we are regrouping in a few weeks.I wish it had secrecy but that's not fair. I would like to share my E-mail adress, so I can exchange 411 with musicians from all over the world. My E-mail is domingo.perez@att.net Please feel free to call or write to me my Phone# is (305) 408-1151 I,m in Miami Fl. And here you have to play everything.You might have also heard me play on many cruiseships. Play on .Music is the international language.We need more musicians, and less computers

I'm submitting a second review if they allow me. I left things out & forgot some things in the first one.Ive tested it right out of the box Without tweaking.As flat as a board,with tube, & solid state amps (roland chorus 70. p.r.s. vintage strats & tele's les pauls, P 90 p/ups,humbuckers,seymour duncans.Great,great ,great.No noise.Oh I also forgot A clapton signature with the preamp& fender lace sensors. I have an assortment of amps that use on a rotating system lately an old bassman silverface with a pair of 12 inch e.v.speakers in a boogie cab. also a mark III boogie and a 50 watt vintage Marshall. Not the breadbox it's the same size as the 100 watt superlead an old one also which I only turn on at home from time to time in order to preserve it.I can get the sounds of my favourites and then some.They include most giants.(not the sports teams) In no particular order ,Jeff Beck,Larry Carlton,Eric Johnson,Albert Lee, Lee Ritenour Joe Beck,Carlos Santana,Eric Clapton, Pet Metheny,Pat martino,John williams,George Benson,stevie vai,of course Jimmy Page And many others I'm diversified in taste,style,& techniques. Oh! I forgot Edward VanHalen & George Harrison R.I.P.

Since it's a tube device ,I would take an extra tube.However if I don't have time to open it up between songs, I'll have an Ibanez tube screamer on line just in case.By the way ,if you are good and expirienced at controlling feedback.(being at a reasonable distance from your amp helps)the two of them combined are Unbelieveably indiscribable.Enough! I'm giving away too many secrets here. Hey to give is to recieve.I just received it .Looks tough,rugged

Don't know.Have't tried

Everything from Duke Ellington To THE BEATLES to LED ZEPPELIN to latin music(cuban & brazilian) no merengue. I would nuk....ah never mind those merengue lovers.Great match. I'm always looking for quiet& versatile gear.I would buy another.aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait's not going to be stolen. I'm on it like white on rice atgigs.My Rottweiler & shepherd will handle the rest if iiiiiiiiiiiiii'm not home.And I'm home most of the time.I don't do comparisons they have nomeaning. I do get great distortion from my mark III boogie,My Rocktron rackmount has more than one will ever need ,however I prefer that for recording. Also any Marshall cranked up.I prefer the 60 watt.It all depends on what your looking for warmth,edge fuzz,distortion or shameless all out vulgar extraterrestial crunch.I'll tell you what the tonebone can do it all.It's Rivera, boogie Soldano,Marshall, in a box. I would not be surprised if you opened it up and out popped one of ritchie blackmores modified 300 watt marshalls! It,s A musical instrument in it's own category.I chose it because of your reviews,and ERIC JOHNSON

Took it right out of the box, put the rotary knobs at 12:00 o-clock and voila! Simply put.Well indiscribeable.Iv'e been playing for 37 years Through A vast array of nothing but the best vintage,customshop,custom made one of a kind gtr's pedals amps,you name it.made to order stuff from all over the world.This is the best.the guy that designed this thing must have made a pact with satan.All this gear that Iv'e mentioned I still own.I'm amusician & also a collector.I just buy.I never sell anything good or bad.I tried this thing through the good the bad & the ugly.It does not discriminate.Even A moron with A homemade gtr & amp using the worst wood & hardware will sound good with the hot British tonebone.Nuff said? Nope I don't know how much space I'm allowed,However Ijust can't tell you how incredibly good this thing is even at it's flattest settings.After I started tweaking,Forget about it.

I just received it,and I already want to order another one plus a couple of classics,eventhough Iv'e been relying on tube screamers for years and rocktron chamelion & voodovalve.I'm not giving those up.However the tonebone is more convinient & user friendly for those that don't like too much tweaking.Especially if you find yourself at agig wuth a weird sounding room.Much easier to E.Q. than A rackmount. Also you can get a super crunch,or anice warm blusey edge. I probably wont need my tube screamer anymore although they sound killer together.But that's overkill.It seems durable we'll see

not yet hoprfully never

Every style.Very little classical.Literrally everything else,and very well.Great match.I always look for noisless,versatile fx that won't hide my guitars characteristics.I don't like hot pickups for that reason whenever I need gain Iuse the amp,rack or pedals depending onthe bubget my employer has.For my stuff I use everything. Iv'e been playing 35 years my first lessons were37 years ago Been playing & recording for28 years I did A stint as a reording engineer,however as much as i liked it there is no comparison toplaying guitar & performing for an audience and /or putting your gtr or voice on disk.I don't have room to list all my gear.I have a69 335,customshop aged faded flametop 58 les paul,1956 stratocaster, a clapton strat a red flame maple top back & sides 335 60 dot reissue,A 1968 peldham blue gibson s.g. melodymaker,( which was my first brand name guitar when I was11 years old) great for slide. 50 Watt marshall plexi I think Its the same size as my 100 watt super lead (circa 1972) I really don't know if they are plexi's and don't really care .They sound good and they are real vintage.I tend tofavor the 50 watt since I haven't played stadiums in A long time!Also an old silverface twin non master volume Two princetons. asilver& my love a blackface.Asilverface bassman w/head & large&thin cab a mark III mesa boogia w/212 ev mesa cab & last but not least my favourite.My beloved Vox ac 30.Nobody is going to steal anything .I'm always home.If not my rottweiler,grman shepherd,my alarm & family will take care of that.At gigs I watch my things like a hawk .if anybody eaven gets close I'm on them like white on rice ,I'm 6 feet 2 inches and weigh 255 lbs.As I said I'm getting anotherone plus the classic.Also being that it's A tube device I'll be carrying extra tubes because I'm going to be using this thing a lot.It doesn't need anything.perhaps more great players to give it publicity such as Eric Johnson .However A part of me would like to keep it secret.Othrwise everybody is going to have a great tone once they find out about it.If it's good enough for Mr.Johnson it's good enough for me.Yes it helps.Makes life easier.My dream is to work with Eric Johnson.

This unit is not so user friendly, as it takes some tweaking to get good tone from it. But IMHO, any good piece of gear is worth it. There are many, many options for diffent tones. Maybe the next model will have dual buttons for patch changes. The manual is easy to follow.

UNBELIEVEABLE!!!! I couldn't believe how it turned my Reverend Hellhound amp into a completely different animal. The effect is very quiet too. You really only get hiss after the 2 or 3 o'clock position. I can get anything from Van Halen, to Eric Johnson to SRV. I used it with my band and my amp really cut through the clutter. I definitely give this a 10. I am going to get the Classic Distortion as well.

The first one I ordered was a blemished model which didn't work at all. I then drove 1.5 hours to a music store and bought one and let me tell you, it was worth the drive. Don't know what long term reliability is so we'll have to wait and see.

I called Musicians Friend(who I bought the first unit from) and they didn't have a contact telephone number for Radial Engineering. They only had an email. HMMMMM...Maybe I'm just old school, but I like talk to a real live human being.

I play everything from jazz to rock to funk to blues. Been playing for about 20+ years. This is definitely the best distortion pedal I have ever bought. If it were stolen, I'd get another.

I had some difficulty with this pedal. Not with the individual controls themselves, but with the total number of options available when you add all of the controls together. I know it may seem strange to say "I've got too many options!", but that is exactly what it comes down to. I'm usually never satisfied with the sound I'm getting from any pedal, but in the case of this pedal, I always felt like if I just tweaked it some more, just a little more, I would find that elusive "sweet spot"...alas, this pedal's controls allow for so much variability, I would end up second guessing the settings I was using. This was made all the more difficult when I found that ramping up one or more controls could completely compensate for ramping down another. I felt as if all the switches and pots were controlling the same frequencies at times. Yes, you can get a scooped sound, yes you can get a blues sound, rock, jazz, you name it. However, I guarantee that you will have some difficulty tweaking the knobs to a professional level sound. Whatever setting I used seemed to have a drawback. Manual was ok for generic settings.

It's not noisy at all. But, when I have the gain cranked, I pick up some radio station. Possibly I have a bad connection somewhere in my rig, so it might not be the pedal. This is a minor problem though.

A bigger problem for me was the distortion itself. It has this grainy, raspy sort of bite to it that I can't fully appreciate. Apparently, this pedal is supposed to have a sound reminiscent of Marshall amps. I must say, I've never owned a Marshall amp, but if this is indeed the Marshall sound, then I just plain don't like Marshall-style distortion. So perhaps my criticism of the sound of this pedal is more one of stylistic preference than of sound quality. However, one should be warned that this pedal has a peculiar sound to it that can never be changed completely. Just make sure you know what this pedal sounds like before you buy it.

On the upside, the pedal does preserve much of my playing dynamics (this is the upside of tube distortion in general).

Overall, the distortion is just too buzzy for me. I was wanting something smoother, creamier.

I would say you can depend on it. It's sturdy. You will have to worry about someday changing the 12AX7 tube.

I've never contacted Radial.

I play speed/death/thrash metal and some classic rock. I think this pedal is better suited to the rock/punk crowd. For speed/death/thrash, you might consider going a different route.

Try this before you buy it. Really listen to how the notes sustain with the gain ramped up. That's my best advice.

Very easy to use. I bought this pedal without hearing it at all and just plugged it in at the beginning of my gig and it sounded fantastic with very little tweaking.

I bought the American Classic first, and as soon as I heard how good that sounded (check out my review on that also) I went out and bought the Hot British.

This one is by far the best pedal I have ever heard.

The Classic sounds amazing, but I think the Hot British has it beat, it sounds a lot tighter.

I don't know if it sounds like a Marshall because I never heard a Marshall sound this good!

Nothing I have heard even comes close. I have a lot of tube gear including a H&K Cream Machine which has tube preamp and tube power amp and comes down to line level and It still doesn't come close to the Hot British.

As a professional musician for the past 30 years, I have heard and owned a lot of gear, but nothing sounds like the Tonebone pedals.

My main guitar is a PRS CE24 with EMG 89 pickups and I use the Tonebone pedals in the FX loop of my Boss GT6 (without any EQ) into 2 blackfaced Fender Twin Reverb amps.

Even though thepedals sound great with these amps, a lot of times I don't have the choice to use my own amps and have to use what is supplied at the gig, which is usually some solid state P.O.S. held together with band aids, and no matter what I use, the Tonebone pedals shine through.

They look very well made, but I haven't had them that long.

The only thing I can see going wrong somewhere down the line would be with the AC adapter, just like any other AC adapter, but by having an external power supply instead of an internal one, it cut down on the noise.

I have emailed them a few times with questions and the always got right back to me and were very friendly and helpful.

I play most styles of music since I do it for a living.

It's much easier to concentrate on your playing when you don't have to concentrate on your tone.
If 90% of the tone is in the player, the other 10% is in the Tonebone!

Very easy to use, I am mildly retarded and can still use it with no trouble.

Holy Schnikies!!! This thing is a Marshall in a box.....no kidding! It can go from Plexi to TSL no problem. I run it through the clean channel of my trusty Fender using various guitars(I will spare everyone the wank-off listing of each and every one) suffice to say works well with single coils, Humbuckers and P-90's. This thing is very quiet even with a ton of gain dialed up. No need to ever buy another Marshall and suffer with poor reverb and clean sounds again. A Fender tube amp and this pedal is a poor mans Rivera only better.Absolutely sounds like a playing into an amp not like a pedal.

Even more dependable than my wife. I would gig w/o a back up. Built like a tank. I am thinking of getting a "backup" for my wife though.

Never yapped with them.

Me likey! If stolen I would cry like a little girl. The only thing I wish it had was the ability to make all my wanky pentatonic speedball riffs into a coherent musical statement. However, sadly I guess that might be up to me.

I wasn't fully clear on a couple of functions (e.g., notch, contour) but the manual explained it well. Very versatile unit - too bad there's only one setting that can be selected through the footswitch, but that also keeps things simpler, which is OK as the sound is killer.

I have a tele with Duncan pickups and play through a Peavey Classic 30 with 12" extension cab. This pedal delivers Marshall tube distortion, tons of grit and sustain, pure rock heaven a la AC/DC, Lynyrd Skynyrd, etc. I can't get over how much it doesn't sound like a pedal. I also have the tonebone classic (which is equally good at what it is intended to do, that is overdrive) and the combination of the two, along with my amp's clean channel, gives me all the varieties of tones I need to play lead and rhythm on oldies rock to blues to hard rock.

It's built like a tank

I've been playing seriously (in a gigging band) for 5 years and haven't heard anything better, including the famous Ibanez tubescreamer, which pales in comparison - even my Classic 30's dirty channel, which is great, doesn't get any use . If you're serious about tone and have a tube amp, do yourself a favour and try one out, I promise you won't be disappointed.

Very easy to use right out of the box. The manual suggests setting the knobs at 12:00 to start which makes sense and works well as a starting point. The manual gives you all the info you need to operate the pedal and also provides several suggested settings for various tones.

I've never given anything a sound quality rating of 10 before, but this pedal deserves it. It's the real deal. Best sounding distortion pedal I've ever heard. Full, rich, lively, harmonic, musical distortion with an incredible amount of versatility. Gobs of gain, sustain and tone tweakability. As soon as I plugged in the pedal I was able to dial in lower gain classic rock crunch tones great for rythym or lead...fat, smooth, mid-rangey, medium overdriven singing lead tones...and unbelievable super saturated high gain lead tones.

I play with various guitars inluding a '95 Fender Strat Plus, '96 Fender Tele (both with Seymour Duncan Hot Rails in the bridge pos pickup), stock '96 Gibson ES-335 Dot RI, '79 Gibson Les Paul Std. with a JB pup in the bridge pos, and a mid 80's Kramer Pacer with Seymour Duncan pups. My main amps are a Mesa Boggie DC-5 w/ 2x12 cab, Marshall JCM2000 TSL-60 head w/ Marshall 4x12 cab, Fender Prosonic combo, Fender Hot Rod DeVille 2x12, and Fender Deluxe Reverb RI.

I mainly bought this pedal to use with my Fender Deluxe Reverb and Hot Rod DeVille. The Deluxe Reverb is very picky about distortion pedals and until now I couldn't find one that sounded really good with it. My ProCo Vintage Rat, Korg Hyperdistortion 104ds, vintage '70's MXR Distortion+, and Fulltone Distortion Pro all sounded pretty good with the Deluxe Reverb, but they all failed to give me that full, rich sound I was looking for. Now I've got it! The ToneBone Hot British gives me that elusive distortion tone I've always wanted with the Deluxe Reverb amp. Now I've got a great clean tone and a great distortion tone. I'd also like to add that the ToneBone Hot British is the first distortion pedal that sounds better than the drive channel of my Mesa Boogie DC-5 head. I've always used the DC-5's drive channel as a benchmark for comparing various overdrive and distortion pedals. The DC-5 has a very big, rich, full tone that I never expected any pedal to match. I was speechless when I a/b'd the Hot British against the DC-5 and the Hot British sounded better! All the guys in the band thought so too...I almost wet myself.

Another thing I love about the Hot British is its silent operation. Even with gobs of gain dialed in, there is only a very low level of noise with my guitar's volume down low with the unit on, and there's no noise at all when my guitar's volume knob is set to zero. With high levels of distortion dialed in and with the guitar's volume knob cranked up, you can get some very cool and controllable feedback, depending on the guitar and amp you're using and where you're positioned on stage. Just like any time you're playing with a high gain amp or pedal, you need to learn how to control any unwanted noise or feedback by using palm muting techniques amongst others, to let your playing come through.

I haven't tried the Hot British with all of my guitars and amps yet, but so far it's a winner. Everything sounds fantastic!

Sure seems well built. But too early to tell.

If you play mostly rock like me and you truly appreciate the value of having the best sounding distortion sounds you can pack in a pedal just a foot tap away, you need to save up a few bucks and get this pedal. It's about twice as much as most distortion pedals out there, but it sounds a hundred times better. I bought this pedal based on the hype I saw on this site and others. It's very unlike me to buy anything I can't try out first, but I had good feeling about this pedal and I'm so glad I bought one.

This pedal is magic. I've been playing for 29 years and I've finally found the distortion pedal I've always dreamed about. I would personally like to thank everyone at the ToneBone shop for making this happen. You have no idea how happy you've made this guitar player!

Very easy to get a great sound. Very tweakable. Suggested settings in the manuel are enough to get a big variety of sounds. Only drawback is that I still have to look at the manuel to remember how to get some of the sounds I like

I have a Fender 135 watt silverfaced Twin Reverb. It's always had a nice clean sound but distortion pedals in front of it have never sounded good. I then had a Torres engineering blackface mod done to it. This greatly improved the midrange response of the amp and my distortion pedals like Vintage rat, modded TS-9, Reverend Drivetrain II and Tubester sounded better but still lacked compaired to my Marshall JCM 900 combo and JCM 800 head or Univalve head. Seeing improvements in the amp with the mod, I bought a Tonebone Hot British based on reviews at this sight with people who had a great clean amp and wanted a Marshall sound with a pedal. This is the only review I've ever written out of all the guitar stuff I own, and I'm writting it because I 've finally found a way to get a great clean channel and a great distortion channel with one amp, and it can be done at low volumes at home. The pedal works so well because it has so many EQ options. You can blend the pedal well with the EQ settings that sound good for the clean channel and not have to alter the clean channel EQ so that the distortion pedal will sound good. I play in a church worship band and use a Reverend Hellhound combo and the pedal has also turned this amp into a great two channel amp. My JCM 900 is a two channel amp but the clean channel is not Fender clean. The Hot British on the clean channel of this amp sounds better than the dirty channel!

no problems so far

no experience here

This pedal is awesome. It does high gain sounds very well, particularly well on a clean channel of a tube amp. I have to try the Classic next.

What a pedal! Depending on your rig, it can be somewhat fussy about settings (also depending on what you're going for), but overall very simple and straigforward - so a "nine" is in order (it's really not hard). It's very easy to tweak. The knobs all do what they say they do, and then some. Actually, this drastic sonic change with the turn of a knob can lead some players to spurious conclusions about its "limitations". For example, the bass can sound really thin with the Bass knob set any lower than 12:00 (leading some to think it lacks in bass response), but it also starts adding incredible low end from 1:00 onward. Which leads me to the conclusion that several reviewers here, I don't think, really spent a lot of time turning knobs. And some reviews made me have to wonder if they even plugged it in at all (for instance, the guy who said it was good at "classic Skynyrd soounds", but couldn't do metal at all). And also the guy who said the Hot British was a great pedal for hard rock and classic 80's metal, but it wouldn't do nu-metal or pop punk (two styles that, honestly, the pedal is really geared for), but that the Classic fit those styles better. Honestly, I think he just got the two mixed up.

But, it just goes to show you, no two players think alike, and your conclusions about the pedal have to be your own. And now, the sound...

Brilliant! I was really looking for a modern, more aggressive sound than I normally go for. The problem is that most "contemporary" tones tend to just plain sound horrible overall. Nasty highs, grotty mids, and loose fuzzy bass is what you normally get. The Mesa Rectifier sound, for instance. Through certain ones, I'd love the bigness of the sound - It has a nice, big "floor", but the highs are real ratty and the mids can sound a bit "plastic" and fake, and if you're not careful, you can crash out the bass easily. That, or you get the 80's JCM 800 preamp gain sound, with overly grinding mids and shredded, tinsel-like highs. Generally, I think most companies who manufacture anything geared towards "the kids" tend to feel that, for the current rock scene, that they have to make it sound irritating and annoying, because otherwise they think it wouldn't be aggressive and wouldn't appeal to the younger generation if it's not irritating, and therefore won't sell. So they use the model of what's currently on MTV at the moment, and go from there - and, anyhow, "the kids can't tell the difference anyway". However, this is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If "irritating" is all that's available, "irritating" is all they'll use. No tone, no dynamics, very little flexibility, just lots of crashy, fizzly gain, and lots of bass, even if it's loose and flabby.

Enter the Tonebone Hot British. I've heard a lot about the Classic, and a lot of people (including Eric Johnson) are using it, and about how good the sound quality of these products are so much better, blah blah blah (*cough*hype*cough*). Then I thought, "well, if EJ really uses them, there must be something to it." (classic tonehead copout, I know). So, I went to check it out. I also auditioned a Maxon SD-9, as I'd heard good things about those. I plugged it in first - I tried both in a UniValve, like I have (I run my line out into a tube power amp). I did get a pretty good overdrive, but you have to keep the tone all the way down (otherwise it's harsh and brittle), with limited bass response, and there's probably one useable sound in the pedal (set the tone higher than "zero", and it's thin, brittle, and nasty, with no bass). And it's still set in the "classic zone" and can't stray out of it.

The Hot British is MUCH better, for only a couple more $20's. Sure, sure, plenty of gain here (by the way, guys, some of you wrote on these pages that theres not enough gain - say WHAT?!). I've seen advertising and articles in guitar magazines that, when comparing the Classic and Hot British, declare that the HB is geared more for "aggressive, nu-metal sounds", and I think that's an accurate assessment. No problem getting Godsmack, Papa Roach, etc. (except, of course, much higher quality). What's not here is that grinding midrange, the "grrraahaahaahaahuuww" that you get in, say, a Soldano type distortion. It's a very hard to describe sound. You also get the most sustain I've ever experienced. It really grabs your note and runs with it, which is one of the things I was looking for, and it does it much better than my Boogie. It's also very smooth and fluid and liquidy, and at the same time very solid - the mids seem to squish just right, and though there is a lot of bass, it's very tight. It seems like a lot went into refining the highs in this unit. At extreme settings, the highs will get a little brash, harsh and brittle, but this can be easily dialed out. So, there is plenty of high end definition available without a hint of unpleasantness. And though it doesn't quite get the classic stack "hit" when you smack it, it is very easy to get a nice solid "choonk" from palm muting, even at lower gain setting (I keep mine about 9:00).

It's true that, at some Contour settings, it exhibits a little of that "notched wah" kind

Can't say. I've had it a week, and used it at one practice and one gig, so I can't really give it the "you'll never have any problems ever" mark. But, given what I've seen of the quality of this unit (both in build and sound quality), I'd say it will most likely last a very long time with no breakdowns.

Have no clue. Judging from the other reviews, they seem very positive and helpful, in the event anything should happen.

I'd be here all day describing the sound I want, but for the sake of this review, the band I actually gig in, we do a WIDE variety of rock and blues, from Hendrix to Zeppelin to SRV to ZZ to Beatles to Creedence to Doobies (Bros., that is), to heavier stuff like Ozzy, Van Halen, Deep Purple, STP, Chili Peppers, Rush, etc. Dallas and Fort Worth are pretty much Top 40 kind of towns, so there's not a lot of room for guys with original music (though we have a half an album's worth of originals), and the soul-jazz-rock type stuff I want to do will likely take some warming up to.

I said all that to say, this pedal really works on a wide variety of our stuff (not just the "heavy stuff"). I attribute this to the high level of quality throughout. Yeah, it's a lot of money compared with cheap, MF and GC legions approved DOD and Boss pedals. But compare it to other overdrive and distortion pedals in its price range (the "around $200" mark). There's just nothing out there that compares. Pick even some of the $400 tube overdrive pedals (like the Bad Cats), and it's still like comparing apples to oranges. They're different animals. Though, taken for all in all, I think they're a bargain in comparison to other "boutique" pedals. I had a Bad Cat Two Tone for a short while (which is also supposed to have a "modern" voice), and, in my humble opinion, this thing eats it for lunch. And it costs half as much. For the same price, you can walk out with both the Classic and Hot British.

As a whole, I think "10's" are given much too freely and frequently here at HC. However, if you look at even most of the reviews that I myself have written here, you'll find a lot of 10's here. One thing that partially contributes to that is that, when I buy a product, I try to get nothing but something that's gonna rate a "10" in my book. So, by that token, of course we're going to give 10's to these boutique products. Because, we've already voted with our money. That said, I TRULY believe that these are the best pedals made today. If you want a dynamic, responsive sound, and also tons of gain and sustain, these are your boys. This pedal is HIGHLY recommended if you want a lot of gain, but you also want good gain. It sounds like the best high gain channel known to man. It's responsive like a real cranked amp (more so, in some ways). If you could have just one pedal to take over the world with, make it this one.

I have the older pre-Radial Hot Brit...features are the same. I've had this pedal since May 2002 (see first review below). I was using a Twin and a Univalve at the time, but have since gone to a Marshall JTM45RI and a Bivalve, have gone through a few changes of speakers, and have done a lot of experimenting with tubes. I have always felt that the fundamental tone of this pedal was about as close as I was gonna get to a cranked Marshall using a pedal, since I have been through a huge number of distortions and overdrives, of both the booteek and Musician's Friendly flavors. I'm still toying with the idea of a two amp rig, but just don't want to drag all of that crap around...and the Hot Brit is so close, I just can't justify the weight and expense. Since this is my second "review," I don't feel it makes sense to use the ratings.

Although I really like this pedal, there is one thing that bothers me about it...depending on the room, level of the pedal's volume control, and apparently alignment of the planets, I sometimes get this nasally, filtered, processed character from the pedal. After playing around with speakers and tubes, I have found some ways to minimize this:
1. I first found amps that had nice verge of break-up clean tones...for me this was a modded JTM45 (I never hear anything short of fantastic Hot Brit tones from this one) or a THD BiValve (which is close, but not as tight and present when set up clean). I play mostly clean tones in this funk band, so the amps' fundmental tones were my first priorities. FWIW, I really don't like the Hot Brit with an amp that's wound up heavily into preamp distortion...I've found the pedal really thins things out in that situation.
2. Speakers: Celestion Classic Lead 80s in pairs or combined with Vintage 30s. These were the speakers I preferred with the above amps. They also match up nicely with the Hot Brit...on the other hand, I found that Weber Blue Dogs and Silver Bells did not sound good with these amps and this pedal.
3. Tube (in the pedal): NOS Chinese 12AX7 (Lord Valve calls it the "Silver Special") or a NOS GE black plate triple mica 5751. In current production tubes, I liked the Ei 12AX7 (hard to find good ones right now) better than JJ Tesla, EH, or Sovtek.
4. Settings: Volume, treble, and contour have to be around 1:00-2:00, bass is dimed, bright switch on high, voicing on fat, mid boost off, and gain around 9:00-11:00, depending on pickups.

With the Marshall, these components and settings have ALWAYS sounded great...in every gig situation for about the past year. The Bivalve is a very tweaky animal, and seems much more finicky about speakers, tubes, and pedals...most rooms it sounds great, I've yet to be totally happy with it on outdoor stages.

1-1/2 years, no problems. I've taken it apart to change tubes at least 50 times...I don't feel any need for backup, but I do have a TB Classic on my board as well...

Never needed them, but can say that Denis was quick and responsive when I bought mine (direct from him)...he answered all of my questions clearly and quickly.

I still pick up a pedal here and there, just to see what else is out there, but haven't found anything I like better...

Filters here, filters there, filters everywhere....

Tried this on a Diezel VH4 and a THD UniValve head. I'm sorry it's just not what it's made out to be. Period. It's rather blankety, small and dead sounding especially after a/bing it with a SIB Varidrive. If it cost half the money it would be an OK deal. A step up from a metalzone pedal but thats about it. You can get lots of sounds but none that realy make you want to play the pedal for very long...

Had it for 1 day. I'm selling it for half price if anybody is interested.

Nothing to get excited about considering the price tag. Like I said, if it was selling for half the price it would be an OK deal for someone on a tight budget but as is, spend your money elsewhere

I got absolutely great tones in seconds. Totally easy and self-explanatory. I used rack effects for years -- which are NOT easy by any means (for me anyway) -- so the Hot British is a snap -- just turn a knob and flip a switch.

I'm stunned! I honestly didn't believe what I thought was "hype" about this pedal. I couldn't have been more wrong! Spectacular tone!

Custom Shop Strat > Hot British > Echoplex > Fulltone ChoralFlange > into two 1964 Deluxe Reverbs (in stereo) with Webers.

The Fenders give me the ultimate clean tones, and I have a vintage Marshall JCM 800 combo in my rig for lead tones, those unmistakable Marshall crunchy rythmn tones, and some Eric Johnson-ish tones. I've been wanting to get rid of the Marshall for a few years -- way too big and way too heavy -- but I couldn't part with the awesome tones it gave me. In my quest for something to give me that Marshall tone thorough the Fenders I have left no stone unturned. I own vintage Chadler Tube Drivers in both the pedal and rack versions, a vintage Rat pedal and a vintage Rat R2DU rack unit, a vintage TS-9, a vintage Big Muff, a Fulltone Distortion Pro, a Fulltone Fulldrive II, a new Fulldrive II with the mid switch, a King Of The Britains, a Marshall Guv'nor, and a Marshall Bluesbreaker II pedal. I also bought a Rocktron Prophesy preamp for it's Marshall emulations -- as well as a Line6 POD, a Line6 DuoVerb, a Line6 Vetta, and a Vox Valvetronix -- all in order to try to get the "Marshall-In-A-Box" thing happening (or at least in a ligher combo than the JCM 800 combo). The Vox was the best of the lot, by far! But none of them ever satisfied me -- they weren't "Marshally" enough for me to ever get rid of the JCM 800. Until now! The Hot British is the pedal that finally got me to leave the JCM home. In fact, to my picky ears, it's more "Marshally" than the JCM is! The JCM is going onto eBay tomorrow, along with the Line6's, the Prophesy, and all the pedals except the vintage TS-9, and the Fulldrive I without the mid switch.

I totally love the Fulldrive II and never thought I'd love any other other drive/distortion pedal as much. It even replaced my vintage TS-9 in my rig -- it's that good. But I have to say now that I will never part with either the Fulldrive II or the Hot British either. I'm even thinking that if the Hot British is this good, I also need to get the Classic `cuz it must be great too.

Don't know -- only gigged out with it once so far.

Haven't needed it yet - -don't know.

Hard to get a bad sound out of really. But with the interaction of all the buttons and pots, it may take a lot of experimentation to settle on something.

I needed this to get a full on Marshall sound with a one channel Reverend Hellhound amp which is excellent at providing everything else. Well, this pedal did not dissapoint in any way. Very amp like sound. Ive played Marshall JCM 800's, Jubilees and JTM's for years and recently switched to a Reverend Hellhound amp to improve my rythm sounds. I was however unwilling to go without a Marshall lead sound and now I than God I don't have to. This to me nails the sound of a modded JCM 800 with some old JMP mixed in. Like most other posts on this one, I don't give 10's easily.

Apperears to be very rugged.

I emailed the company asking if there was a local dealer. They replied with the name and number of a local dealer. I called the dealer who told me the product was lacking in tone and overpriced, and they preffered Tube screamer type products. This product may be overpriced. But to say it lacks tone is total bullshit. I ended up purchasing this on ebay, and have no regrets.

To me there's no doubt this is a great product. To me an ideal sound would be a modded JTM 45. This is a more Marshall JCM 800 sound, which I love almost as much. That's a statement of preference more so than does the pedal nail what it's designer envisioned. Also to get those old Marshall sounds in small rooms with big amps.. not that easy without going deaf. This pedal is a nice controllable package. I do however believe that this pedal is good to use on a clean or semi clean amp, and not to use with an amp that's already setup with lot's of gain.

It's very easy to use, with a LOT of tonal options. When I tried it out for the very 1sy time I set all the knobs at 12 o'clock and got a great sound right there! The manual is well written and guides you through the controls, as well as giving a quick crash course on tube behavior.

I use hot-rodded Strats with assorted pedals all thru a Marshall JCM800 combo. This pedal sounds GREAT!! No extraneous noise and true hardwire bypass keep the tone strong. I can get all styles of hard rock distortion, everywhere from maxed-out Megadeth and VH down to heavy blues overdrive. The dynamics really let individual styles shine through and all the details and nuances in your playing can be easily heard. The tube also brings even-order harmonics to the forefront which make the distortion voicings VERY rich and detailed. In short, this pedal is like the distortion department of a finely tunes JCM800 with EQ mods. The best thing is that it sounds and responds like real amp gain and power tube distortion (the "chunk" factor) as opposed to pedal gain. This thing oozes "Marshall" when you push it.

Right after I got it I accidentally dropped in onto a desk and it bounced onto the floor from 5 feet up. Nothing wrong in the slightest! Built like a tank. I'd use it on a gig without a backup but I'd keep a spare 12AX7 handy just in case. I'm just worried about someone stealing this thing (their motive being jealousy) so I'd want a spare for THAT... but as far as gig-worthiness it's built TOUGH.

Never had to deal with them but their website was very helpful and informative.

This is THE distortion unit I have been looking for ever since I started playing 8 years ago. I do not give praise lightly and I am very picky about tone but for once I have no complaints. I've tried them all and used most of them at some point but this is the end of the road right here. Out of all the hundreds of them out there this is THE one. The amazing sound is in a class all by itself. Even other tube pedals don't sound this good. If it were stolen I'd have another one overnight delivered to me! In a nutshell: A+ tone from the only DS pedal I'll use from now on.

I gave it an 8. Compared to other distortion pedals it is more complex and has wider tonal options. Any "bonehead" could figure it out though. Many good sounds as well as a few bad ones in this thing.

I am a stratocaster guy. '62 RI stratocasters with either stock vintage fender pickups or Fralins for my main sound, and Dimarzio Malmsteen pickups for more of a brutal cutting sound.

I'll start off by saying that I've got very discriminating taste in tone. I've owned several amps - Boogie Rectifiers, Vintage Fenders (still my favorite all around amps), Marshall half-stacks, etc. Fender's have always given me the best cleans, and Marshalls the best lead distortion. I could never find one amp that gave me both of these tones, but couldn't justify owning multiple amps, which led to my quest for the "marshall in a box". I wanted something that would emulate or even surprass the tone of my JCM 800 half stack.

Thus, I bough the Hot British, and ran it into a Tweed Bassman. With the Hot British I can get the same rich, singing distortion as the Marshall, as well as many tones that the Marshall was incapable of, all with a combo amp that is easy to carry and won't tear my face off with the volume up.

I bought this pedal based on hype and I really feel that it actually lives up - smoothest and richest distortion available from a stompbox, hands down. Tons of tonal control too, so even if your sound is lacking in one area, the Hot British can easily cover it.

Finally I have access to all my favorite sounds - fat cleans, heavy rhythm, and singing leads - all from a distortion pedal that costs a fraction of the amp that it so successfully immitates. Some people claim that the Hot British muddies up in the low range, but I think that's more a function of the amp. I found this pedal to be very articulate and "tight" sounding. If you're going to buy a distortion pedal, this is THE one. Its what the RAT II and the Boss DS-1 wish they could be, but can't quite reach even with expensive mods.

This thing is in a powder coated steel case with a heavy duty tru-bypass switch, so as far as that goes I think the thing is bombproof. The tube is well ventilated and Radial claims that these thing can be used for hours on end, months in a row without needing a replacement, and I'm going to trust them there.

I've never dealt with them because of a problem, but I have emailed them with questions. They were very prompt and extremely friendly.

I play all types of music. Pink Floyd is my biggest influence for overall songwriting, but my guitar influences stretch all the way from Stevie Ray Vaughan to neo-classical shred metal ala Ynwie Malmsteen. With the Fender Bassman, the Hot British distortion pedal, and a slew of other nice effects, I'm very happy with my sound and don't plan on changing my rig for years to come. The only downfall is the heavy price and large size of the unit (were it not for these two things I would own a Tonebone Classic as well).

lots of knobs/fucntions, difficult for ME to get a good sound out of it, cept my idea of a good sound is different from a lot of other people's. manual gives ya some pretty cool presets.

i run a gibson les paul studio lite (main guitar)->fulltone clyde deluxe wah->tonebone hot british->boss GE-7->boss CE-2 japan made black label->boss DD-5->marshall jcm 800 100 watt head. All in all, this pedal gives you some pretty good tones, just not any that are usable by my standards. lots of highs, never brittle and barely ever icepick-in-ear sounding, but still a lot of em. if you play 80's metal, or old-school rock (zeppelin, maybe even a bit of aerosmith), then you'll probably like this pedal. its pretty hard to get a really fat bass-heavy distortion with good definition w/o turning up the highs a lot, and that defeats the purpose. not for newer metal/grunge/punk/hard rock sounds. which is, unfortunately, is what i play. good peice of equipment otherwise, so im gonna give it a no opinion.

built like a tank, but its still tube, so i'd suggest you bring a backup.

e-mailed em and asked em bout my problem with getting a good tone out of it, they e-mailed me back and told me i'd probably be happier with the classic (which i got, and i was).

kindof a waste of 230 for me, but thats what ya get when ya buy equipment without testing it out first. its a very nice piece of equipment, just make sure it covers your genre.

very complete pedal, easy to make multiple killer sounds if you know
how to work a pro pedal,you know how to eq sounds. powerful eq if
you're a dumb ,simple,guitar guy you might make terrible sounds.

I've used this pedal with everything, multiple combinations,
les paul, les paul with emgs, les paul with tone zone, musicman axis,
strat texas sp. and more threw mesa mark III,IV,DC3 fender the twin,
cyber twin,Rozon and a marshall jcm 800.
1. very quiet,a little noise after 3 o'clock still less then other
pedals
2.very usable distortion threw everthing
3.AA++ with emg threw marshall
4.one of only 2 pedals i've ever like with my boogies
take the time to find the sound
5.MY Favourite was as a slightly dirty boost with gain channels
sound from srv to gary moore to metal god

had it 5 years about, its a demo never had a problem yet.

I live one town over from Mr Rozon, He's extremly helpful.
sorry never delt with ridial sound.

I've been playing and gigging for 18 years, mostly blues rock andsome metal. this pedal never stays home! does anything I need.if I lost it I would gladly get a new one!

Just follow the manual, or play around, it`s there. It`s not Tube Screamer easy, but it`s no modeling amp.

Fat, thin, buzzy, smooth, it does it. Through the front of the clean channel of my Fender and Marshall it sounds great. The best Marshall in a box I`ve ever heard. Since I use a lot of effects, it makes it easy to run pedals through the front of a clean amp and still get a great sound. Beats using rack processors through the loop with midi etc etc. Actually sounds better than the 2nd and 3rd channels of my TSL loaded with Mullards!

Don`t know, no problems in three months anyway. I immediatly swapped the jj tube for a Telefunken, but it wasn`t a drastic difference.

Never had to yet.

Absolutely the best Marshall in a box I`ve tried. I like it better than the distortion channels on my TSL.

This pedal sounds amazing. It has 4 knobs (for highs, lows, contour, and drive) and three 3-position slider switches (for top end, voicing, and mid-boost) along with the ON/OFF (true bypass) switch. Every one of these controls has a very deep effect on the sound and that makes it extremely flexible, if a little difficult to know where you're going with dialing in good tone. Luckily, the owner's manual (and the web site http://www.tonebone.com) provides some settings that are excellent starting points. I imagine as I get the hang of it, I'll be more comfortable with its extreme flexibility and be able to dial in the right things.

Sound quality is amazing. It is sort of odd for a Mesa Boogie rig owner to buy a distortion pedal (!) but it was recommended to me by other Mesa Boogie owners who swore by it.

I use a Mesa Triaxis preamp, a Mesa 20-20 power amp, and a Lexicon MPX-G2 for effects.

I ran the Tone Bone Hot British in front of the guitar input of my regular rig (not in the loop), and the noise level is actually quite low. I only played around with my Mesa rig set on clean settings, relying solely on the Tone Bone for overdrive and distortion (I have NOT yet tried using the Tone Bone to "bone-up" an overdriven pre-amp/amp combination). Using the manufacturer's suggested settings, I was able to get sounds that were very close approximations to ZZ-Top, AC/DC, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Johnson, and others. From bluesy just-at-the-edge-of-breaking, to all-out metal shred, I was able to get there. I did not even fine tune this, and was pleased. That's a lot to say for a Mesa Boogie rig user.

Reliability looks like a sure bet. This thing is built very solidly, and I don't expect any problems with it. The footswitch is sturdy, and the metal box is strongly built. The format (about twice the width of a Boss pedal, but thinner) actually feels more stable and comfortable that the boxier Boss format. I have not rated reliability, as I've owned this only for a few days.

I only dealt with them once... complaining that the presets on their web site did not print properly. They were very quick to respond, suggested I look in the owner's manual (doh!), and asked for my feedback on their product. Did not have to deal with them for any problems with the unit, but this one and only interaction gives me a very good feeling about them.

I play classic rock, some progressive, and also some more contemporary material (covers such as Creed, Rush, Santana, Tantric, Kenny Wayne Sheppard, Jeff Healy, Wide Mouth Mason). So my sound is all over the place. I have played for over 20 years. I do not use any other pedals (rely on rack gear), but this one is a keeper. If it were stolen, I would hunt down the bugger and skin him/her alive, then buy a new Tone Bone.

I did not compare this pedal with other contenders I may have considered (i.e. Koch Pedaltone, Fulltone, etc.), but my search is over.

Very easy to use. And very flexable controls. It hooks up like any other stompbox. The manual is very easy to read and the settings in the back of the book are very helpful to get you started. My unit sound great out of the box,so mine is not upgraded..

I use my tonebone with a 50 watt marshall plexi, and a 50 watt sovtec mig. these amps do not have master volumes. The guitars I use are a gibson flying v with dirty fingers pickups, A charvel A-1 with a 57 classic plus humbucker, and a left hand fender strat strung righthand with texas specail pickups. I have yet to find and unusable tone on the tonebone. I have also use it on other amps from small practice amps to amps with 4x12 cabinets. The results are always the same by tweeking the knobs to fit the amp/speaker combination you can get great tone. I also find that it works bast if the level is ran to the high side. I play a alot of blues, rock, heavy metal,fusion, and coutry.

The unit itself is built like a tank. very solid. The only thing that I can see is that the power supply has a very thin cord and care sould be used in not stepping on it or packing it roughly.It also uses a12AX7 preamp tube. I keep spares although I have had my tonebone for about 8 months I have not had to replace the tube and I use mine alot. I always have a back up of every thing I use for a gig. I know alot of guys don't do that, but at one time or another something will fail.And the show must go on. ONe thing these units use a 15 volt transformer and those can be hard to come by. I hope radial will make those avalible to there suppliers and at retail level soon. Can't hurt to have a spare..

The service was great. I had a problem with my cord on my power supply and they sent me another.

The only thing I can say here is this. If you are looking for tone real tone this is it. other than the cord to the power supply it really delivers the goods I have played guitar for 30+ years and have tried alot of gear . This is the real deal. But the best way is to plug one in for yourself. You'll see what I mean.My dad had a saying " whats cheap ain't good, and whats good ain't cheap". Tonebones are on high side pricewise. BUT WHATS YOUR TONE WORTH TO YOU.

Talk about tone, the Radial Engineering ToneBone Hot British Tube pedal is really worth it. Very simple, straight forward, you get crunchy to searing distortion and sustain. I'ts easy to set up, a few dial adjustments and you can go from Hendrix hot tubes, to Jimmy Page constant sustain without the tin. Drawbacks...I haven't found any yet. The manual will show you how to set the dials and tone switches for different tone/styles, and their pretty accurate. If your a tube amp type who's searching for tone...ToneBone delivers!

Used both a Fender 40th Anniversary Strat, and a Les Paul Standard. Both sounded great through the Hot British ToneBone. I've had good results with both a Fender Twin and a Peavey Classic Tweed 30 watt. I had no noise, (other than usual single coil with the Strat), and no problems.

No problems so far....

Yes, I have to admit, I do business with them. Still, I'm retiring my vintage MXR and Ibanez Tube Screamer in favor of the tone bone. I haven't even considered anything else for twenty years!

Worked great for Classic Rock and blues. I can see how you could also get thick alternative drenched tones.

This pedal is a tweaker's delight. I set up one of Radial's suggested settings in the manual, then tweaked to my taste from there. No bothersome "patch is stored into memory after the light flashes 32 times while hopping on one leg and such". Staight ahead amp style features 5 knobs, 3 dip switches, True bypass switch, input, output... thats it.

I,like other reviewers feel that 10's are given out way to frequently at Harmony. But, sometimes an item comes along that truly deserves one and The Tonebone is definately worthy. It has the most organic sound I've ever heard. It's like a real tube amp. Very responsive, articulate, and transparent. I go from clean to mean straight from my volume knob on my guitar. It cleans up so well. Radial engineering has raised the bar for all distortion pedals period. Like the way Jimi and Eddie single handedly changed the course of guitar history,and the way Tiger and Jordan changed the way their games are played. That's what is going to happen with the Tonebone. Simply stated, TONE NIRVANA. The Tonebone delivers exactly what Radial Engineering say they do. One hour after playing through the Tonebone, I ordered a second one. I turned my friend on to the Tonebone and he ordered one 45 minutes later. If you can't get awesome tone from this pedal, then you should quit playing. I use it with a tube amp and can acheive any tone that I go for.

Seems rock solid. No problems so far. I have two and will most likely buy another out of fear that they will no longer be available.

Between me and my co band member, we ordered 4 tonebones. 6 out of 8 of the input/output jack washers were cracked in several places and needed to be replaced. At $230.00 a pop, we were not thrilled. I emailed Radial Engineering and got a reply from Peter Janis within a couple of hours. They next day aired new washers to me. Washers mind you. So customer service is excellent.

The word on Tonebones are not out yet, but they will be soon. These pedals are not of this earth. If it were lost or stolen, I would get another as quick as I could. I've been playing for over twenty years and have searched for that elusive tone for many of those years. The Tonebone delivered in spades. I am now a Bonehead.

I haven't had time to play through this unit much, so I'm only going to address certain issues. I play through a Fender tube amp because I love that clean sound. I don't want to get another amp and lug it around to get a good high-gain sound, so when I found this scratch and dent unit on Musician's Friend, I had to get it. I wanted a distortion pedal that cleans up when you turn the volume of your guitar down, that is rich in harmonics, and that is articulate (by which I mean the notes don't turn to mud - you should be able to distinguish each note in a chord). I'm very pleased with the Tonebone. I think the notes could have a little more definition, but I haven't even played this through my amp yet, so I'll reserve judgment on that question. It does everything I wanted though.

This unit gives what I call a "wet" distortion sound. If you play the guitar as a percussion instrument, not as a melody/accompaniment instrument, you probably won't like this pedal.

From the looks (and weight) of it, I'd say it's pretty safe to rely on this. Of course, it does have a tube in it... Always carry extras.

NOTE: I have both the Classic and the Hot British Tonebones, and am reviewing both (see my review under the other Tonebone model).
I give this unit a 9 (not a 10) because it has a LOT more knobs and dip switches than your average pedal. However, in function, it operates more like a pre-amp, offering a lot of versatility. That is, you can cop a lot of different sounds from it. Note that the Classic offers more tonal variety than the Hot British, but the manual gives lots of good sound settings for either model (and you can easily tweak the knobs to find good sounds on your own).
The website (www.tonebone.com) tells you a lot about the pedals, if you are thinking of dropping the $200+ (US dollars) on it, you should read the website. And musiciansfriend.com has sound clips.

I play either a Peavey Wolfgang or Music Man Axis SuperSport guitar (both with humbucking pickups) into a Budda Superdrive 18 watt combo amp (great amp, check out the reviews on this site). I throw in a digital reverb through the effects loop, and use good quality cable. What about the Tonebone, you might ask? I got the first model before I got the Budda (which has GREAT distortion), so it improved the sound of my amp. Now, however, I like the VARIETY of distortion it offers, and also the fact that I can get distortion at LOW volumes using the Tonebone?so I got the other model as well (I tend to use the Classic more often, as it has more tonal variety, but still use the Hot British for a heavy rock sound). Noise is an issue on the Hot British if the gain is above like 2 or 3 oclock (you get radio frequencies?not good), and less so on the Classic. Let me say this?if you have a solid-state amp (which I used to have), the Tonebone sounds quite good?lots of harmonic content, and good dynamics. But if you are feeding into a good tube amp (or at least, in my case, the Budda), the Tonebone sounds killer. Once you get the amp up to moderate volume or more, it really sounds like you are switching not just channels, but actually switching amps. My amp?s power stage is very good, so I don?t want to oversell the Tonebone. It will at least offer you variety, and it may improve the quality of your sound if you have a solid state amp (for a good tube amp, it won?t cheapen your sound, which is important to know). The Classic is probably also well suited to single coil sounds, and the Hot British is very much hard rock. I don?t think it is a real ?metal? pedal for one reason?it uses a tube (a JJ/Tesla 12ax7) in it, which gives more of a spongy tube feel (which I like)?metalheads want a quicker aggressive tight attack. But it does hard rock (ie, Guns N? Roses) very well.
NOTE: I am not giving a sound quality rating because sound quality is subjective, and (more importantly) sound quality depends on your setup. If you have a solid-state practice amp, your sound is probably a 5 of 10, and the Tonebone can knock it up to a 6 or 7. If your amp is a well made tube amp (like the Budda, which I have) it is probably a 9 of 10 to begin with, and the Tonebone won?t hurt it. In my opinion, your amp is MUCH more important than your pedal. But as pedals go the Tonebone is good.

Not applicable. I don?t gig, just play for my own amusement. It is made of solid steel and has a solid footswitch (good), but it has some small plastic switches on it and the power supply input is near the line out (bad).

Here is the reason I am spending time on writing this review. Briefly, as someone who has both Tonebones, and has tried it with different amps and likes the sounds it offers, I was interested in finding out more about the product. Specifically, I saw on the website (www.tonebone.com) that the ?newer? models have the Tesla tube in them (they used to use the Sovtek one, but switched to Tesla). As I have a tube amp, and recently changed tubes in my amp (from Sovteks to Teslas, as a matter of fact), I emailed them, giving my serial #s and asking if my Tonebones had the Teslas in them. I received a reply within a day?amazingly quick from a pedal maker?they gave my info and asked if I liked the product. If you are curious, Tonebone switched to the Teslas about a year ago, and since then have in fact changed their graphics (as of March 2002, a few months after the tube change). SO if you have the current graphics.faceplate on your unit, you have the Tesla. I emailed back saying that I was impressed with their reply speed.

Peter at Tonebone encouraged me to report my opinion on harmony-central. Let me stress?a Tonebone will not make a mediocre amp sound great, but it will offer tonal variety. And most importantly (to me at least), even if you have a good tube amp, it will not ?cheapen? the sound. I really think in most cases people are better off saving their money to buy a better amp, rather than a pedal (especially at $200+). But if you want a very dynamic sounding pedal, with lots of great tones in it, you have to check one of these out. Guitar One magazine just recommended the pedal?it is not a cure-all, but it can really give some great sounds.

This pedals controls are clearly marked, but there is a lot of tweaking involved with this guy. It is not plug-and-play.

I ran this pedal through a 4x10 Peavey Classic 50. The pedal gave off a hum on higher gain settings. It does overdrive reasonably well, you can get an Eric Johnson-esque tone out of it. The higher you turn the gain, the more fuzzy it gets. This distortion gets brittle rather than smooth, at its highest settings reminiscient of 70's rock groups such as Lyrnyrd Skynyrd.
This pedal is not as versatile as people say. The main point I want to make in this review is that the Hot-British is terrible for hard rock and heavy metal. Most reviewers say that "this pedal does everything." Well I tried and tried, but I couldn't get a smooth lead tone or a heavy riffing tone. If you want to get a lead sound in the vein of Paul Gilbert or Steve Vai, or if you want to get as heavy as Megadeth, Planet X, or Dream Theater, this pedal will disappoint you. I sounded like Dave Mustaine playing through a tube screamer with this thing, it just wasn't working.
If you are into classic rock, blues, and country, (ie crackly, fuzzy distortions and overdrives) this pedal might work for you. But in this area, I found nothing really special about this pedal. I dialed up sounds that sounded classic-rockish. They were decent, but nothing spectacular. I didn't find any tones that were particularly astounding.

n/a

n/a

I bought this pedal from musictoyz.com. I've played guitar for six years, and am experienced in jazz, metal, classical guitar, and so forth. I'm a bit particular when it comes to tone, and if my Hot British were stolen, I wouldn't exactly hold a candlelight vigil for it. I returned my Hot-British after three days.
Just don't buy into the hype. Some pedals are good, but there is no perfect pedal. Like I said before, this pedal is not that versatile, it's distortion is too unfocused for metal. Plugging your axe into a toaster would yield a better hard rock/metal tone than this pedal does. If you seek overdrive and fuzz sounds, you might want to check out this unit, but make your own decision as to its sound. Personally, I know that there are much cheaper pedals in those areas that can do the job just as well as this.
The Hot British is like J.Lo, over-hyped and generic. It doesn't sound bad by any means, but definitely doesn't excel in any areas. There isn't much bang for your buck with this one.

Easy......You would have to be brain dead to not get a sound out of this thing. 5 turn pots, 3 eq switches and a stomp switch..EEEZZZ!
Manual included but not essential.......good run through on the tube replacement.........common sense though!

pumped through the front end of my reissue Marshall head and 4/12 cab......nice! The Marshall only has 3 12 AX7'S in the preamp stage, so the Tone Bone added ample gain without having to crank all the controls........wich is typical of older non master Marshalls.....they traditionally have to employ insane volume levels to achieve that sustain and crunch of the newer High gain master volume amps. And it cleaned up well when decreasing the volume pot on my Stratocaster. As for effects......a Wah pedal and a Dano Spring King are all I use....which means I'm more into traditional Rock sounds......including the noise level...........which wasnt very noticable at all........If you crank the drive knob of course you get Niagra Falls ......but at the 2 o'clock setting it's mondo tone......fellow Marsall(tube) amp users .....set your controls heavy on the the bass and about 12 o/clock on the rest (my pref)

I've use it live and it has not given me any problems thus far.....considering its only about a month old, its dependability has yet to be determined.....but its built pretty heavy duty and Radial states that the tube should last a couple of years ....depending on use. I use it everyday so it will probably wont last that long......we'll see.

Never dealt with them so far.....but tube gear is fairly high maintenance when you use it a lot. So I'm expecting a tube change as is the Marshall.

I purchased this unit becasue I saw an ad in one of the the guitar mags I sometimes pick up and took a chance......which is something I do from time to time. And I've made a lot of acquisitions in terms of pedals over the 20 plus years I've been doing gigs. Most of them have claimed to be tube like or tube sounding......this thing is tube and does all the high gain hot rodded tones you could want....I'm not kidding! The only gripe I have about this unit is that the power source is a little too close to the output......but if its mounted in a permanent situation in your pedal board .....its virtually bulletproof. I also have a couple of guitars equipped with EMG pickups and they scream through this thing. Lots of bang for the buck....Thank you sir may I have another!

Very simple.

Let's keep this simple. I've been playing professionally for 30 years and this thing actually produces a better overdrive tone through a clean Fender twin than my 58 tweed deluxe or my old marshall plexi....no kidding. Smooth and warm, a little drive or more than any marginally sane player could use. Lower your guitar volume and it cleans up nicely. Reacts VERY much like a good amp. Unlike even the best non-tube overdrives it BREATHES. This pedal through a good clean tube amp sounds better than ANY two or three channel amp I've ever tried.

We'll see.

We'll see.

If the clean sound of your amp is more important to you than it's overdrive capabilities and especially if you have a single channel amp, this pedal will is the one.

This unit makes it incredibly easy to get a decent sound
No keypads or buttons on this baby, just 5 knobs 3 slide slideswitches
and a heavy duty on/off stompswitch
The manual included is really not needed to get you started on sounds, just look at the unit and the controls easily identify what its purpose is. and there is a rundown section on servicing the unit yourself in case of a tube change and pages with some basic settings along with some blank pages to record your own favourites...cool>

I played an Ibanez Universe 7string /A Signature Oracle with Evans Pickups in a HSH configuration with push/pull coil splitters and a Charvel Soloist type with 2 EMG 81 active pickups through two amps.
One a Peavey audition 30 and a 1962 Beltone all tube combo. With the amps flat and all the controls on the Distortion unit flat except for the level wich i set about 3/4s ..you get a very usable heavy crunch sound for power chording, very quiet at lower drive settings. as you manipulate the knobs past 12 o/clock .....and add the fat switch you enter bowel loosening territory. It was incredible to hear the sound of a raging stack coming from my little combo. With the drive control up high the hiss level also increased, but it was easy to cop a scooped mid molten metal sound or an AC/DC type sound just by moving the knobs in increments of one, the slide switches are very effective
at adding girth and brightness or darkness. As for lead playing, the harmonics that jump out of this thing are amazing and legato type techniques effortless. For ambient effects I also pumped it through a Digitech 2112 Studio rack processor and it worked quite well. Both types of pickups sounded very good through this unit

I've only had this unit for a couple of weeks.....but the maual states
that the tube inside should last 2 to 3 yrs depending on use. Its built very heavy duty but I'm not a big fan of the wallwart adapter. I cant see this thing breaking down though and I will use it live without a backup.

ITs brand new so i've never dealt with them.....but they e-mailed a response the same day I thanked them for creating this wonderful unit

I've been a guitar player for 20 plus yrs and play all types of music,this is by far the best distortion unit I've purchased.......I thought the Boss Metal Zone was kick ass but this thing blows it out of the water ......and all with tube warmth and incredible harmonics. Just setting the controls haphazardly gives you a usable tone. The only improvement I could see happening to this unit would be ....ie putting some kind of protective enclosure around the control pots and swithches. Sonically, its worth the 300 bucks and then some.

You already know the specs. Plus, now you have the website at: tonebone.com. Only thing I miss is a second ?channel?, at least a boost switch. But I use another pedal (TS9 or PE RX Overdriver) after it to boost my solos.

Super-Marshall. Similar to Soldano. I can play Scorpions, Schenker and Slash - the sound is in there, even with a Strat and a single-coil sized humbucker at the bridge. Wished it was a complete rack preamp, with several midi switchable functions and/or channels. Amazing for a pedal with only one 12AX7. The amp is important though. Use a proper tube amp if you wanna be serious. But the many options (mid boost, mid cut etc.) allows it to be used with many different sounding preamps AND poweramps. Even with a small solidstate practice amp it sounded great. So far I use the mid cut position for 80?s Hardrock and the fat position for a Soldano type of sound. The 2 mid boost positions may be useful for a Santana type of sound but so far I haven?t used it. The bass remains tight for rhythm and palm muted string work. The treble sounds great, like a real tube amp. No buzz, no harshness, no shrillness, but bite. The mids are tweakable to taste. The solos cut thru the mix especially with the fat switch engaged. What a sound. I know I can rely on it soundwise, it always gives me instant gratification and other musicians (drummers, guitarplayers, keyboardists, etc.) complimented my sound. ?Man, You have the sound !?, that?s what I hear most of the time. I used it mainly with a JCM800 combo, a Plexi reissue and a Budda. With a Custom Shop Strat and a LP Std. In each case it delivered.

So far so good. I bought it over a year ago, and no problem. I can tell it is high quality.

Denis Rozon the designer is always ready to help. Answers emails immediately and personnally. Great guy to deal with. Willing to help.

Great overall pedal for a Marshall type of sound and then some. Perfect sound. Is rather modern sounding as far as I understand (when comparing to other pedals and amps - it will go from Stones to Heavy Metal, but not slight Blues overdrive). If you wanna rock this is it. For Blues take a TS9 and a decent tube amp.
I have owned and played the following: TS9, SD1, Marshall Bluesbreaker, Jackhammer, Boss Metalzone, POD, Boss GX700, Voodoo Lab Overdrive, MXR Dist+, Mesa V-Twin, Budda Phatman, PE RX Overdriver, Marshall JMP1, Tech21 XXL, Tech21 Classic, Tech21 TriAC ... the Hot-British is the best sounding pedal and the tone is better or more authentic than say Tech21 or JMP1 - fatter sounding, no artificial highs. You would use all those differently, but if you need one good sounding distortion pedal that lets you forget you are playing a pedal into an amp, and lets you think you are playing a whole amp, then this it. It?s that good! Test it with your guitar and amp and you will probably buy it and use it all the time; if not, then you are not looking for a distortion pedal and will need some other stuff.

It is not as easy to use as some distortion pedals because it has a lot more knobs and switches than most distortion pedals. As versatility increases, ease of use decreases, and vise versa. I have a love/hate relationship with this pedal because it seems very sensitive to the tone and volume settings of your amp. For example, I'll dial in a killer tone. But if I later turn up my amp's volume or adjust the amp's tone controls slightly, my killer tone is gone and I have to change settings on the pedal again to match my new amp settings. I don't have problems like that with simpler distortion pedals that have just a tone control like a Fulltone FullDrive 2. I don't think any of the other reviews mentioned this problem, is it only me that has trouble? I had the same problem when I was using a Boss Metal Zone. It is definitely a tweaker's pedal. I bought mine a couple years ago and it did not have a manual. My pedal has a red case which I think looks much nicer than the newer cases.

I've tried the pedal with a Fender Twin Reverb, Reverend Hellhound, Crate Vintage Club 50, and an Electar Tube 10. You can make the pedal sound good with pretty much any amp because all the switches and knobs on the pedal provide you with a lot of control over the tone. You just have to spend time tweaking the pedal to match your amp. For Fenders, engage the mid-boost to compensate for Fender's dip in the mids. For dark amps, switch the pedal to bright. For bright amps, switch the pedal to dark. etc.

It is quieter than a lot of other high gain pedals and even high gain amps I've tried. However when I use it with an amp that is plugged into my Mesa 3/4 back cab, I tend to get a lot of feedback. That doesn't happen with my other pedals, but then again my other pedals are not high gain.

One complaint I have is about the treble and bass controls. At 12:00 they are supposed to be "neutral" but it sure doesn't sound that way to me. I usually have to turn the bass up pretty far to match the bass setting of my amp.

Sometimes I feel the pedal is too compressed sounding. At lower gain I'd like it to sound a little more "open" and "airy".

Even though it is supposed to sound "British" I use it for Mesa-Boogie dual rectifier-type sounds such as Offspring, Godsmack, Three Doors Down, etc. In a direct comparison I did with a Mesa DC-5, the Hot British sounds very good, but the Mesa still sounds better.

I used it for about a year or so without any problems. Then one day I plugged the pedal in and it made a flash and died. I sent it back to get fixed. I haven't had any other problems with it since.

Denis is great. I asked him a million questions via e-mail and he always gave long detailed answers. However, I sometimes wonder if English is his native language.

He also taught me about negative feedback loops and gave me a schematic so I could variably control the negative feedback on my Twin Reverb. Cool!

There was a delay when I sent my pedal in to get repaired. He had it for about a week but forgot about it. He e-mailed me and apologized and I got the pedal back a couple days later. So minus one point for absentmindedness.

Overall a great company to deal with.

Despite my negative sounding review, I really do like the pedal. It is definitely one of the best distortion pedals out there. I just wanted to express what I believe are some of the cons about the pedal that the other reviews didn't seem to address.

I think it sounds better than other tube-based pedals I've tried such as: Mesa V-Twin, SIB Varidrive, Real Tube. And it is cheaper than some of those.

I still haven't found a pedal that sounds as good to me as amp overdrive, but this one is very close.

Nothing new here. I've also got the Tonebone Classic. There are lots of controls, but are very obvious in the sound difference that they make.

This thing is incredible! I bought the Tonebone Classic first and was very impressed with it, so I also ordered the Hot British. I was already impressed with the Classic, but even more so with the Hot British. I'm convinced it can do any sound I ever want it to. And the active EQ controls allow me to have as much or as little bass/treble/mid, etc as I want.

The sound is also a very warm tube sound. This is the best all out distortion pedal I've heard. The only thing it doesn't do is the slightly overdriven sound. The gain of the distortion is meant to be higher on this pedal

I've got full confidence in this unit and won't be playing without a backup. I own both the Classic and Hot British, though so I guess they back each other up.

As noted in my Classic review, the only thing that might not survive a nuclear holocost are the 3 position dip switches. Other than that the thing is bombproof.

I've had very fast response to emails/questions from the company, so I have no doubt in their customer support. Plus they're in Canada, everybody's cool up there!

I bought this for the more progressive rock stuff that we're doing, but I also like playing blues and funk. I usually play a Powerhouse strat with Kinman Traditional pickups through this and a Tonebone Classic into a Peavey Classic 30.

It is very easy and straight forward to use. Some may find it complicated. Every knob and switch, has so much range of sound. I have been checking out other distortion pedals and find that some of the knobs provide very little range of sound/tone (not all but alot of the affordable ones).

I am using a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp and a Music Man Luke guitar. I bought the amp for its clean sound and the ease of pushing the power tubes. This pedal compliments it beautifully. I am a huge Steve Lukather freak. I have been after his tone for a very long time. I have owned Rivera amps and a Mesa Boogie Triaxis with a Boogie 2:90 power amp. Those were great amps. But this combo with a small 40 watt Fender Hot Rod amp and the ToneBone Hot-British pretty much nail all of his sounds for me. I like trying to play jazz, fusion, rock, and heavy-pop (Toto, Yes, Steven Curtis Chapman) This pedal gets me the sound I want, and can help me develope a sound all my own. The Fender amp is a good (not great) amp. This pedal turns it into a great amp.

I contacted the company before purchasing this pedal. I wanted to let them know what I was looking for as far as sound goes. The response was, "It starts with the player." He is right it does start with the player. He also he would recommend this box for what I was after. I purchased it anyway. It is great!

I pretty much just play Toto and Lukather stuff. I like all kinds of music, but when I play at home, it is all Toto/Lukather stuff. I have been playing for 12 years. As I said earlier, I have a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp, the ToneBone Hot-British, and an Music MAn Luke signiture guitar. I would buy this pedal again if I had to replace it. I really appreciate the range of sounds that come from each control of this box. There are several "One Trick Ponies" out there. This is not a "One Trick Pony". I have only had this box a few days, and have been able to get what I am after with it. It may be too much gain for some players though. When getting into blues stuff, I roll back the gain on the pedal and on the guitar to get some very cool bluesy tones. When I want it to bite a bit more, I just roll the volume on the guitar back up. I compared it to a Tube Screamer, a Marshall GV-2, a DS-1, and a custom made distortion box. I chose the Tonebone because it got the sound I wanted and much more other range of sounds. You want Rectified Boogie sounds, Soldano, Rivera, Marshall sounds, it is in there somewhere. I would be very interested to try the Tonebone Classic too.

This pedal was really pretty easy. I just started tweaking. It can do a lot so it does take a little practice to learn all the different types of sounds. Not hard to find a good sound!

This is the greatest distortion I have ever owned. It can almost be an overdrive, but it is pretty hot even at low settings.

It can get so many sounds so naturally. After this everything sounds fake and over processed. I play through fender amps as I use a lot of overdrive and clean tones, but this can make my fender sound just like a huge marshall. And it is tweakable enough to get the same sounds out of different amps.

This pedal can easily go from 60's hendrix, to 70's who and clapton, and can get any of those EVH, Randy Rhoads 80's sounds. But it can also give a great modern rock even metal sound. Plus the EQ is great. I am raving as my long search for distortions may be over. This pedal is great!!

It seems really strong. All metal. I can't afford a backup so I don't gig with one, but I think it would hold up well, but I am not going to rate it because I don't know.

Never had to deal with radial engineering.

This is the best distortion I have ever owned. It doesn't do lite or fender style overdrive, for that I hear the classic distortion is better, but if you want a marshall sound, or just a amazing good ole hard driving rock sound, you should get this. WOW! I will give it a 9 only because it is really expensive for 1 pedal.

There are many ways to shape the sound of this pedal. You have High, Low, Contour and Drive, plus a top end switch, a Fat/v switch and a mid boost switch. And the slightest adjustment of a knob greatly changes the sound. You could spend hours, there are so many sounds in there but there isn't a BAD sound in the thing, as many have said. A small manual would be nice but it's not really necessary.

I use it with a Marshall JMP 2204 and sounds killer with this amp. Very smooth. Reminds me of Michael Schenker. I was thinking of getting the amp modded for more gain, but thought I'd try the HB first. So no, I never got the amp modded. High gain insanity! I use Ibanez RG550's mostly, with a Duncan Distortion in the bridge. There's so much distortion on tap, I never turn the Drive knob above 3 o' clock. When the master on my amp is around 1 or 2, I'll use the FAT switch, gooses the preamps a little more. When I use an attenuator and get the master up to around 7 I'll use the V setting, and turn the distortion back to 10 or 11 o' clock. There is some hiss going on, but listen to a high gain amp, they hiss like crazy. I just think of it as adding that 4th preamp tube my amp is missing.

Seriously, Denis & Peter are the best!

Playing 23 years. I've got a couple Marshalls, 7 or 8 guitars, mostly Ibanez and some effects. I like hard rock, rock - just anything with lots of distortion. I considered a Varidrive but the price was too high. Same with the Soldano GTO. The Hot British ended my search. One thing about it I wish it had was easier access to the tube, because I like to tinker with stuff and it would be fun to try a bunch of different tubes in it. You can get at it but you have to take the whole pedal apart and I don't want to do that. Also, I've read comments about wishing the power supply was inside the unit but pedals I've had with internal power supplies always had humming problems, so the external "wall wart" is fine by me. If it were lost I'd definitely get another!

The Tonebone is very easy to use. Many different tone capabilities, all of which are usable.

Les Paul, American standard strat w/ dg20 pickup assembly: blackface vibrolux reverb, Gibson GaRv15. Pedal has little to no noise. Has terrific ZZ, Cream, James Gang, Clapton.... the list goes on.

I havn't own it very long but the construction is very solid. I would feel comfortable using the pedal without a backup.

One of the best companies I have ever dealt with. Very friendly and informative.

I play lots of blues and rock. This pedal is a must for any person who plays rock. I have been playing for 24 years. I won't bother to list the pedals I own because it is way too many. I have tried a wide range of distortion pedals (big muff, marshall gov'nor, blues driver, ts9 w/808 mod etc.), but the Tonebone Hot British beats all of them, hands down. It gives you a wide array of tones and has true by-pass. Great pedal.

The unit has Level, High, Low, Contour and Drive. There is a Top End switch that has settings for Bright, Flat and Dark. This switch simply alters the EQ of the pedal, which is great for the different types of amplifiers that are used. There is also a Voicing switch which has settings of Fat, V and Off. This switch tailors the sound for use with single coils or humbuckers, either thinning or thickening the sound. There is also a mid boost switch with settings of 12db, 7 db and Off. I have found this to be one of the most flexible distortion pedals I have used. Each knob and switch on the pedal changes the tone aand allows the user to attain the sound that he or she is looking for. The pedal does take some tweaking due to the number of options that are available, but after the settings are found you're in business as it doesn't get much better.

This is the best sounding distortion I have found so far. I use it with a 69 Relic Strat and a Gibson Les Paul. My amps are a 68 Fender Princeton Reverb and a Traynor YCV40. I run the guitar thru a Boss TU-2 tuner, Reverend Drivetrain, Keeley TS-9, Tonebone Hot British, Boss DD-3 and CE-5 chorus. I have found the pedal to be extremely quiet unless you have the Drive control turned past about 3:00. After that there is some noise, but it's controllable and I guess to be expected with a distortion pedal. After trying several distortion units I would have to say that his is the best one I have used so far. There is allot of range with the pedal also, going from mild overdrive/distortion to all out crunch.

I have used the unit for several months and have never experienced any problems with it. I've changed the tube to a Sovtek 12AX7LPS, which I think improved the tone somewhat, making it smoother than the stock tube.

I've E-mailed the company on 2 occasions and recieved an E-Mail back from them within a days time. I had a question on how to change the tube and the the E-Mail was very informative and timely.

If this pedal were stolen or lost i would replace it immediately. I am very satisfied with it and use it at every gig I play. I play all Christian Rock and blues and couldn't be happier with the over-all tone and sound. I have been playing for 20+ years and have had several Overdrive/Distortion units over the years. This is top quality and value. I plan on purchasing a Tonebone Classic soon. The units approximately $229.00, which is kind of pricey, but the quality and tone of the unit make it a great value for the money.

If you can't figure this out......

I use a Trace Elliott speed twin head into a Marshall vintage 30 4x12 cabinet. I run the Hot Brittish trough the clean channel. Basically, I only need one channel, because the Hot Brittish makes the amp smoke on the clean channel. I have 5 Les Pauls, Brian Moore DC-1, Terry Mcinturff Taurus, BC Rich 1980 Mockingbird, 3 Strats, etc.. the humbuckers sound a little better. If you are looking for a great high gain sound, at a ridiculously low price, then buy this pedal immediately...you won't be disapointed.

ok so far

Denis was quick with his e-mails.

The Hot Brittish is the mainstay of my set up. The speedtwin has 2 master volumes on it, so I just hit the other volume to boost for solos. If you want early VH, Randy Rhodes, Michael Schenker tone, here it is for a measly $179.

I had great tone in two minutes. I think I got instructions, but didn't need them...

It's the first pedal to sound great in all three of my amps: Fender Twin, Vibrolux and THD Univalve. Everything sounds great in the Twin (this pedal is amazing in it), but the other two have been a little more challenging.

It has THE hot rodded Marshall growl nailed. If you want to emulate the tones of Van Halen, AC/DC, Zep, etc. this is it! If you want to dig deeper and make it your own thing...it does that too.

The only thing I can say is that it is a pedal, and therefore is not going to perfectly match every nuance of a Marshall...I hear a very minor sort of "cocked wah" tone to it, but it doesn't bother me at all (I imagine Slash would love it!). I could buy an old Marshall, but it would be too loud for what I'm doing--to me, there's always going to be a small compromise. Also, while it does clean up with your guitar volume control, it is not as responsive as a real amp.

To me, this thing has a lot of gain! With the gain control all the way down, it's still very crunchy. HOWEVER, you can crank a fair amount of crunch into it, and the bottom end stays tight. THIS IS WHERE IT SMOKES a lot of other pedals I've tried. I set it fairly low (around 9:00) for a tight crunch, and then goose it with a Sparkle Drive for killer singing solo tone...

Overall, I still give it a 10...it's the first pedal that has really impressed me immediately and consistently.

I don't gig without backup for anything, but the pedal seems to be built well. I haven't contacted the manufacturer, but based on a quick peek inside, it seems that access to the tube is not a simple affair. I'd like to try other tubes in it, but don't feel like going through the amount of disassembly that will be required...maybe I should read the manual and email the manufacturer on this before I speak...so you may not want to trust me on that one!

Never dealt with the company as far as service...I've had it about 2 weeks, but Denis did get back to me very quickly, and it was shipped and at my door in about 2 days...

I play in an old school funk band, but LOVE that old Marshall sound...at home I play a lot of AC/DC and a little Van halen, etc. I've been at this for almost 30 years, and playing professionally for 15 or so. I've had plexis, JMPs, JCM800s, TSLs etc. My main gig amp is a Fender RI Twin. The cool thing about this is that I can get Marshall tone through just about anything...Twin, Vibrolux, Univalve, Vox Pathfinder, etc. If stolen, I'd definitely get another. I've just been through several pedals: Line 6 Distortion Modeler, Mesa V-Twin, Barber Burn Unit, Marshall Guv'nor Plus and Jackhammer, etc. etc. etc. I've settled on this for the british thing, and a SIB Varidrive for a more American overdrive sound. The Tonebone not only sounds great, but is relatively inexpensive compared to other "boutique" pedals...

Very simple controls which allow you to do a lot of tweaking. Pots are very responsive. Level, High, Low, Contour, Drive. Top, Middle, and Contour adjustable all which have good purpose. Owners manual explains how to use pedal and to understand its layout.

I play through two fender strats. A 54 reissue and a Lone Star Texas Specail with a Pearly Gates in the bridge. I play through a 65 RI Fender Deluxe Reverb and a fender one 12 cab which has a Weber speaker. Not the greatest setup for hard rock / metal but the tone is there. I plugged into the Hot-British and it was like Billy Gibons on the spot!! It sounded real hot blooded rock and roll!! I could not stop playing!! I have been using a Metal Zone 2 which sound fake in respects to this pedal. I was expecting a little more over the top and in your face distortion, but how much shred can you do with a strat and a Deluxe Reverb!!?? I played through a JCM 800 head before and this is as close as I have heard to the real thing! Smooth, punchy, and articulate!! I've been playing through pedals that robbed my tone for so long that I had to get used to hearing all the harmonics and squeals! I love it!! I have a variety of effect on my board, chorus, flanger, and delays all work well with the Hot-Britsh. I run a Carl Martin compressor to add more body! Noise does not seem to ba a great issue! My setup is a magnet for humm under the right cercumstances! I have not heard any French-Canadian radio from my box at this time!
Very versitile and the controls allow you to dial in an abundance of useful tone. It does sound a bit midrange to todays standard, I don't want it to sound like a Mesa Triple anyways.
I love the sound, I love the pedal!! My setup it allows me to get a deep purple-Iron Maiden type of sound, hits the ZZ top vibe! It was not as over the top as I expect, but thats ok!! It does everything that I need it to!! If your looking for nu-metal sound, this may not be the ticket! Hard rock to 80-90s metal is going to WOW you!!
I give it 9 because its great, terrific and awsome, but it didn't make me ship my pants... I only pissed them!!!

The box is rock solid and the controls and material are top notch! I have back up, but I don't think I will need it! I keep another 12AX7 tube handy just in case.

I e-mailed the company several times in my search for the perfect pedal. They helped me out and e-mailed promptly.

I play a blues based rock and some harder edges music. I use it for heavy blues and 80's metal tones. I have been playing for 5 years and have been searching for the right amp, pedal, and guitar combination. I loved the clean of the Fender, and would hate to get another amp for my brown sounds. I am happy where I'm at and the Hot-Britsh palced me here. I would like a little more grit and nasty to it, but it does the Marshall vibe so well It would be a sin to complain. It changed the way I play, every effort seems to shine through. You have to try one, its not hype!!