Tonebone Trimode

See Below in Earlier review

I finally have played out with my band twice now with the Trimode Tonebone. I can only say: Awsome!! We play classic blues/rock stuff. I ended up with the Lead channel on all through the show! Just back off a little on the guitar volume and you have wonderful rythm, attack harder with the pick and you get more crunch; softer, and you get clean but punchy rythm! I only had my amp on three and had enough power to stand out from the mix without micing! My setup on the Lead channel was as follows: level at 12:00; high at 1:00 and low at 3:00; midboost on 2nd level; tone on 2nd level; gain on 2nd level; Drive on 3:00. The response from the crowd during leads was gratifying--you can feel the leads vibrating the room!! Sweet suger to the ears my friends!

So far yes, built for the road life!

Have not needed help as yet.

Here is what my ears hear during giging from playing 40+ years:

At the settings above: Leslie West of Mountain (For sure); SRV (No doubt, but you have to use heavy strings and use the back of your pic--works for me and use various pickup combinations on your strat); Early Clapton (for sure); and, when we do our Santana, which is our main musical dish, it is right on! And what is most amazing, you can tweek this pedal in many ways--I don't know what else this pedal can do, but for now I'm enjoying the tones I have found and will worry about the rest later!! Getting a Super Reverb soon and can't wait to see what it will sound like! Thank you radial for such a masterpiece--feels like your playing through a second amp! Can't say enough, just try one. My only negative gripe is the power source--too short and feels fragile, make it tough like the pedal and you have sweet perfection!

It has a lot of controls but there's nothing confusing about it.

I play a lot of semi-recently alternative, classic rock and some blues. I play with a Les Paul with a Duncan SH-2 Jazz in the neck and an SH-4 JB in the bridge. I use a Boss OS-2 Overdrive/Distortion pedal and modified Vox wah (1% tolerance resistors and Fasel inductor.)

When I bought this pedal, I was looking to "move up" to the "world of tubes" but was afraid that I wouldn't be able to find a pedal as versatile as the OS-2. To an extent, I was right. Even though the box advertizes sounds from smooth overdrive to full-on distortion, this pedal is definitely a distortion pedal. However, even with that said, the sound is great and you can still get a pretty good variety out this pedal.

It is sort of noisy though. With the drive turned up, I was picking up radio stations, which is sort of disappointing for such an expensive pedal. my other pedals don't pick up the radio.

Mine must have been defective. On occassion, when I would stop playing for a minute and then start again, the output would be incredibly faint. Playing with all of the settings didn't get the sound to come back but it would gradually come back by itself after about 15 seconds or so. It didn't come back on instantaneously as if there were a short or something, which a repair man told me was probably a problem with a short to the power for the tube itself or a problem with the tube socket. Either way, an expensive pedal like this should have a problem like that right outof the box.

Never dealt with them. I took it back.

It's a nice design. Too bad it wasn't made better.

This pedal is not easy in the sense of two knobs and that's it. It is easy to use if you take the time to read the manual, which is great with lots of setting suggestions.

I am using a custom made 62 strat repro with 50s/60s pups and a 1990s Fender Blues Deville 12x2. I have been playing lead guitar for over 40 years. This is the pedal I have been looking for! You may have had the experience as a player of using a pedal that just does not get the tone you want and you have to play so hard to get even close. With the trimode Tonebone, your playing can relax a bit--all the power and sensitivity you need is there! The important word, "Dynamics", is what this pedal is all about. It has the expected noise at higher gain, but nothing to worry about. Even at higher gain, each string sings out individually and the tone is shaped by the pressure you apply with your pic--so the success of the pedal depends greatly on the playing ability of the guitarist. Which is a real blessing--you have a pedal that allows you to color the sound as you desire. Best sound I've heard from a pedal, hands down!

Have not had it long enough. However, it looks and feels solid and I would feel confident in it--though I would always bring along my TS9 just in case.

No repairs and no upgrades. Never dealt with the company.

I play blues/classic rock in the school of Hendrix, clapton, Santana and SRV--40+ years. This pedal gets me to the tone and sound I have looked for for a many year now. I am certain that there are expensive tube amps that could get this tone without pedals; but this pedal will give you the tones of the expensive amps at a fraction of the costs! I am stuck on a setting at the moment that gives me the blues power drive of Michael Burks (If you have not heard him, you need to check him out on the net.) The notes just sing when bending and I feel in control--that is what we all want from a pedal. If stolen, I would get another. I love the ts9, but it is limited in the range of tone I can get from the trimode. One feature that would make it a better pedal would have been seperate high and low knobs for the first channel, though I get some great crunchy tones from this channel as well. Again, I love the dynamics and range of tones that the tonebone provides. The add is correct: there are no "bad" tones in it. Just work with it to find what you like. I have found not just one sweet spot, but several for my tastes! This pedal is going to get me into my lead work in a way I have never done before! I have not played out with it yet, but I know it is going to be wonderful! Get one!

The manual is written well enough and the knobs and switches are intuitive for the most part. But the key to this pedal is experimentation. Out of the box with all settings at middle of the road it's a fine sounding and performing pedal. But if you want to set it up for a special purpose, like covering 80s rock and pop music as I do, plan to spend a little time finding the sounds you need. The tonal option settings are plentiful. I haven't tried switching back and forth between humbuckers and single coils so I don't know what tweaking would be needed to maintain you tone, volume, and gain levels. You have to use the incldued power supply and can't use your VooDoo power etc. My one 'ease of use gripe' is I can't find a stock, short length TRS cable for the effects loop on channel 2. I checked our local dealers and online, and no luck. I'll lhave to have one made.

I've had the pedal for several months using an ES355 and a Tele Deluxe with humbuckers into a MusicMan combo. I wanted to simulate a multi-channel amp with this pedal and was successful at doing that. First thing, you can get controlled feedback at nearly any volume. Cool. Chords, including minor 7th and the like, have great definition and note clarity. Also very cool. Channnel one, the lower gain channel, produces light to heavy grind, while channel two can get all the way into the fuzz zone. The bypass setting (Radial refers to it as a channel) seems transparent. When channel two is on, the strings come alive which is great while your playing, but in the moments just before starting a song, not having string noise coming through your amp is difficult. While muting the strings the slightest movement produces significant noise. When backing off the guitar's volume the pedal cleans up pretty well. The pedal transfers your picking dynamics well also. Switching is silent and click free. I can't say this is the last distortion pedal you'll ever buy, but it is extremely useful, especially for those without channel switching on their amp.

I haven't had it long enough to determine reliability. I hope for the money it costs it's on par with Boss pedals.

Never used them. I get the impression that the 'Boneheads' at Radial would bend over backwards for any reasonable request.

I've been playing rock, pop, blues, country, and metal for 32 years, mostly with Leo Fender designed guitars and amps. I mostly use Boss pedals, a Keely compressor, Univibe, and own a Tonbone Switchbone(also a feature rich pedal) in addition to the TriMode. There's a good chance I would buy the TriMode again if something happened, but I would check out a Line6 XT Live too. Not because of tone preferences, but for the ability to hit a button and have the sounds I need for a cover song all come into play at once. I'm not a fan of digital equipment yet, and my only experience with it was bad and expensive, but I would check it out. I considered a Keely mod BluesDriver to supplement my Boss OD3 before I bought the TriMode, but went with the TM for ease of use, true bypass, and the amount of tone shaping options.

2 channel + 1 bypass = 3 channels. Effects loop only in the second i.e. high-gain channel. This somewhat limits the operation of this unit. More on that later. Uses 1 12AX7 Russian tube. Tone-enthusiasts might want to change the tube with a JJ tube from eurotubes.com. But good luck doing it since you have to dismantle the whole unit pull out the knobs, etc. to do that. What a pain ! I guess since pre-amp tubes last for a very long time when compared to power amp tubes, its ok to go through this headache once a couple of years. (if you decide to keep it for that long !! ). Manual is pretty good and answers most of the questions one might have.

Pretty easy to get a good sound but not easy to get a great sound ! I am pluggin in a Ibanez Rock Guitar with a Dimarzio Super Distortion Humby into it and connecting it to a Crate GLX30. The end amp does not matter since for clean sounds, you are anyway going to be switching the bypass on the pedal. If the amp is put in overdrive and channel 1 or 2 is selected on the pedal all hell breaks loose and you dont want to do that.

Ok, now the sound... According to me, the sound is very thin. it does not have the push-back and sound of a solid-state amp let alone a tube-amp. As you can see from my setup above, I am not pluggin in a squier strat with single coils and complaining about thin sound. This seems like a very good overdrive pedal. Maybe it will sound great in front of a tube-amp but wait a minute, this is supposed to be used in front of a SS amp. So, thumbs down in the sound.

Next, the gain. It did not satisfy me in the gain section either. This is a pedal for blues, classic rock at the most, but not for Metal. The second channel (i.e the lead channel) comes close to heavy metal rhythm. BUt where do I turn for playing lead ? Channel 1? that sounds like crap. No chugga chugga , no gain, just blues like I said before. Also,where is the mid-range boost in the lead? I found more mid-range in the rhythm. So, even if you think of swapping the channels, the effects loop is only in the lead channel. So, ultimately, gain is insufficient for Metal lead but comes close for metal-type rhythm.

But the best and worst part is the equalizers. Very touchy. Small manipulations will alter the sound a lot. that is the best part. the worst part is that its shared by both the overdriver channels so, no flexibility there. Anyway, the sales rep at tonebone said that for heavy metal look at the plexitube but I went for this anyway and serves me right. Just got myself a all-tube amp and loving it.

Guys, NOt for metal, not for metal not for metal and not even close to an actual tube-amp. There seems to be more of these 12ax7 equipped pedals out there. NOt worth the $200.

Looks pretty solid. Very solid. Changing tubes can be a nightmare. But dependable.

Actually replied to my email.

I play mostly metal. This does not suit my style. Better suited for classic rock and blues. try the plexitube according to the sales rep. but still will not make your Solid-state amp sound like a tube-amp. Not even close.

Out of the box, Just wow!!! For years of playing through Tube amps, here is the sounds I have looked for...As simple to program as any pedal!!Manual was included and has some tips but sound(tone) is subjective....

I use Musicman guitars,..LUKE specifically..through Mesa amps with vintage 30s as speakers,(Generally El-84 tubes-preferred in my power sections).My rig is Mesa to Volume pedal-Wah(Crybaby original),Tonebone Trimode,Boss CE-3 chorus, Boss DD-5 delay, Boss TU-2 Tuner. Through My effects loop I run TC-Electronics reverbs and delays operated via a Midi foot control board(custom)...Also, I sometimes will throw in a Sansamp GT-2 Distortion pedal..Which I will explain why...
This is a true bypass pedal with no noise whatsoever!transparent sound.I can achieve a great sound with it for almost anything I do.I am a session/studio musician so I have all sorts of tones to achieve depending on what is called for..My only issue is that when the tail of the distortion is coming to a close, you get a very "scratchy", broken up sound...not a smooth tail..That however is what tubes do!!!Unlike a distortion unit like a Sansamp classic or GT-2 that remains smooth to the end..(They are close but however lack that thick tube tone that the Trimode has!!) I only use the GT-2 for a Petrucci-Dual rectifier tone..I dont use my Boogie distortions too much as I find that the tones from my pedals are more easily achieved for whatever room I am in.

Seems solid and built well!

Not needed as of yet

Ive been playing for 36 years(classically trained, and do all styles from rock to jazz, Bossa nova to blues,Funk to classical!! (I dislike country music!!!)-not me. Love this pedal so far.Would probably replace it if it was stolen...
I have Many guitars and amps used for whatever is called for, but if I need just one solid piece to go with my amp and guitar, this would be it!! Fat, thick, solid sound!!
If you buy one pedal, This should be it!! Dont waste your time on the competitions..Ive played the Fulltones and Keeleys and V-twin Boogies, Boss ods/dist/, Sansamps,etc..etc..

Also One more thing..Get the Trimode, not the British or classic..The trimode offers more features and greater tone options!!

This box is like many others except that you have 2 levels of distortion to set up. Once you find the sound you like it's done.

I use this pedal with a variety of guitars and they all sound great. A bit fuller with humbuckers and a little less with single coils. I don't like overbearing distortion, the kind you can't even make out the notes in the music. This unit lets you dial in exactly what you want.

It seems to built really well and solid. I do use it on stage with no problems at this point.

I have a ts-808 tube screamer and a ds-1 and a vox pedal board work station and the trimode crunch and distortion sounds better then any of the other ones I have mentioned.

Very easy to use, but only once you understand what it means...

Perfection! I play music for a living, and had so much gear throughout the years, and one thing I know about testing effects is you set everything at "12oclock" and if you hear the potential in that flat sound then its the right one for you. I must admit out of all the distortion boxes I have every owned or heard, this stands out above the rest.

Built like a tank. As the saying goes - YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. and if you paid for this box, you know that you payed a high price.

I had a HOT BRITISH, and somehow fried the board on stage during a gig. The store that I bought it from sent me a new one right away (free of charge). I have actually called Radial in Vancover to simply get some advice on one of their products called the "BIG SHOT" Shawn (the person i spoke with ) was incredibily helpfull and very pleasent.

Over all this box works like it was made for my gear. I am currently using an american stratocaster, and the rocker 30 by orange (amazing amp). with this particular setup. As far as the other equipment i am using there is just too much to go into...

P.S. Thanks Tone Bone for making the best distort box I have ever had.

fairly easy to use, though there's quite a bit of flexibility in this pedal. lots of controls that create a wide variety of sounds. only had it a couple weeks so I'm still finding my way around it. The less, knobs, the easier it is to use. This one's got lots of knobs + switches!

Using a 1993 Jeff Beck Strat or ES335 ->XP100 Whammy/Wah ->Trimode -> Dunlop Q535 Crybaby into a Fender Deville 2x12 w/Line6 DL4 in the effects loop. I'm still to new to it, but pretty high quality sound (and pretty compressed). I really needed a distortion w/2 channels for some variety in 1 pedal. Thus far, I think it maybe sweeter with the Strat (gold lace sensors) than the 335, but I'm still learning how to use it. It's a pretty quiet pedal when engaged, for a high gain dist pedal... You don't know it's in your pedal chain otherwise! I tested it up against a Keeley Rat2, TC Electronic Dual Vintage Distortion, HomeBrew Big D, Visual Sound Jekyll+Hyde and the newest Anniversary edition (MosFet) FullTone FullDrive2. TC was a nice sounding pedal but didn't offer much versatility. Keeley Rat sounds somewhat 1 dimensional, Big D was kinda cool but, where's the bass? too trebly. Jekyll + Hyde sounded pretty good on the Jekyll, but somewhat low quality on the Hyde side. FullTone was a really sweet pedal (I'd buy one if I had the bucks for a 2nd high quality pedal!), but I was looking for a distortion more than an overdrive. Trimode has a nice singing quality with lots of options for EQ and adjustability. I can sqeeze some really nice "Who Else!" sounds of it with the Strat. Nice and clean true bypass when the effect is off. I like how you can prestage drive 1 or drive 2 then just hit the bypass switch on/off to slam it on. Quiet switching. Very well designed pedal. I love how the knobs turn - nice and tight which means they won't be slipping out of their settings too easy. You can get really sweet feedback out of the Trimode too and it's seems very controllable, though I haven't played it in any really loud settings yet. Would have been nice to test drive a Barber Burn Unit EQ but the place I went didn't carry them. I'm thinking if might be the best compliment for the ES335? Humbuckers react very differently to the Trimode than the gold lace sensors - very phat and pretty gainy. Have to experiment more w/the Gibson.

I hope I can depend on it! Only had it a week and did pay big bucks for it. Time will tell.

Haven't had to deal with them yet. 3 year warranty on it. hopefully won't have to use it.

I play a mixture of jazz, funk, rock, avant garde and "other" music. I've always been a pedal-head, but trying to find the right distortion sound has always been the hardest thing for me. Amp distortions, by themselves, don't usually work for everything I need, though I do use the Deville gain channels for clean boost or mild overdrive. I've owned many dirt pedals over the years, fuzz face, big muff, tons of Boss; HM-2, turbo overdrive 2, OS-2, SD-1, DS-1, etc. Keeley Rat2, etc. I'm hoping the Trimode is going to satisfy me for a long time. But I always have to change sooner or later. I would like to have possibly another pedal (like a FullDrive2 or Burn Unit) for the ES335. Might be something I look into in the future. If it were lost or stolen, I'd have to figure out if I could afford another one 8>). Out of all the pedals I test drove that day, that I mention in the "Sound Quality" section, I always kept coming back to ToneBone! ... and it wasn't the most expensive of the lot...and not the cheapest either.

its easy alright

it sounds great ill give it an 11

built like a tank i dont see any plastic on the input jack??... the only thing thats not metal here is the knobs

i dont have any problem with it at this time

i play rock n roll , classic rock , blues , to metal this pedal can do everything

Lots of knobs and switches which can be a good thing as far as versatility is concerned. Two channels is a great bonus. As far as getting a sound out of it I am sure others were more successful with that than I. I have been playing 20+ years and am pretty much a plug and play kind of guy. Inspiration-Fender Strat-Keeley-TS-9-Super Reverb. I played with this thing for about a week and could not find the exact tone I was looking for. Although it's fun to sit and turn knobs and tweak your gear I would rather plug in and play. So for me this one was a little more involved than I was looking for.

See above for my setup. I am a blues/rock guy. A 30-something year old strat slinger with a day job and the dilusion that I still have a shot at playing full time someday. Anyway, I'm looking for a box that will not change the tone of the strat-thru-super reverb tone. I am just looking for some transparent dirt--if that makes sense!?! That's all I'm asking for! The Keeley TS-9 is not quite there but it is the closest so far. I keep coming back to it. The Tri-Mode is a very good pedal but there was always a somewhat nasally tone no matter where I set the controls. It didn't work for me...I sent it back and am going to try the Pedalworx Texas Two Step. I hear that is pretty transparent and the soundclips sound pretty good.

I had it for only about a week-and-a-half and it seemed like it was built pretty tough. Generally, it seems like a well built sturdy unit that should last a long time.

Never dealt with the company. Informative website, however.

Like I said earlier, I think it's a very good unit but I sent it back as it was not quite exactly what I was looking for and at $240 I better like it if I keep it. Back to the search for me. Pedalworx seems to get pretty good reviews so I will be trying the Texas Two Step next.

This unit takes a little while and some understanding to be able to use it. The manual is helpful but I had to sit down in front of the amp and just play and turn knobs and listen. Every knob and switch creates a very noticable sound change. I could't see that I'd ever get bored with one or two sounds from this because the combination is endless.

American Series Strat & Tele w\ Noiseless Pickups > Maxon Cp 101 Compressor > MXR 10 Band EQ > Tonebone Trimode > Ibanez FL 9 Flanger > Ibanez CS 9 Chorus > Ibanez AD 9 Delay > Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue.

This review is done just two days after receiving the Trimode so I know that I'm in the "Honeymood Period", but I couldn't wait to review it.

The pedal adds some noise on extreme settings like turning up the gain real high (to be expected, otherwise it's relatively quiet.

The bottom line for me is that this pedal is extremely versitle and helps me to get "THE SOUND" that I've been after for some time now. I sent back the Ibanez Reissue TS 808 for this pedal. I loved the Ibanez 808 sound at low gain settings. It has a great, buttery Overdrive. But I wanted to be able to get higher gain settings with the same pedal at the push of a switch and this one does it. (Wish I could afford both pedals!).

Years ago I heard SRV play Voodoo Chile on Television and while I admired his playing ability and style, I could not get the sound of the guitar out of my head. I haven't heard "THE SOUND" I was looking for coming out of my rig until I got the Trimode. It's there 100%!

The website at Radial Engineering is very informative, you should check it out!

As stated, this is new to me so I will use it for a while and report back later!

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Been playing seven years as a hobbyist and this is "MY SOUND"!

Basically a two channel valve driven preamp with true bypass
This pedal has some great sounds in it and they are easy to obtain. The manual is quite informative.

Various guitars including Fender,Gibson, PRS and amps including Marshall and Fender. The overdrives are great and you can set two different sounds and levels plus switch to bypass for your own amp sounds.

This is where it goes pear shaped. I am on my third unit the footswitches in the first two were faulty. Now the problem I have is the input jack (Cheap plastic) keeps falling out no matter how you tighten it.For a pedal costing this much I think this is diabolical. I would not trust this to gig with and it is now relegated to the odd rehearsal.

The dealer has been great about it. I have not contacted the Company.

I play classic rock,blues and in a 60's band. Been playing 35 years. I own or have owned loads of gear over the years. I loved the sounds and the idea of a pedal with an ability to go from crunchy rythmn to solo sounds and levels in one box. I would not replace it if stolen. I have now got a mesa twin pedal instead (built like a tank).

Very simple and straight forward knobs any guitar player should be familiar with. The 3 things that will require attention are 1) the mid boost switch (which is not what most people expect) 2) the filter knob (dido) and 3) the built in fx loop on the pedal itself. Good manual too.

Using PRS 24 BLE with a CARR Slant 6V clean channel. I get a very good sound from both channels, and I was pleasently surprised to learn that working the volume knob on your guitar feels like an amp in that you can clean the sound up but not lose it...

Overall I'd say the sound is great right out of the box, but does require a GOOD amp and some tweaking time. DON'T GET it if you have a bad amp.

Very solidly built. Nice job on this one. my only gripe is the 15 Volts (see below)

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Great pedal...my only complaint is that it uses 15 volts instead on the typical 9V - That is a pain in the butt, especially if you have a pedal board that provides built in 9V power to every pedal you have except THIS one.