Radial Tonebone Loopbone

The Radial Tonebone Loopbone is an effects-loop switcher from Radial that lets a guitarist insert, remove, and combine pedals through two independent signal chains, while avoiding the tone loss of other switchers and the noise that true-bypass alternatives can introduce¹. It is a switching pedal rather than a looper in the recording sense: it does not record or replay phrases, it switches pedal loops in and out of your signal path.

What it does

The Loopbone's job is to put your pedals on switchable loops so you can take them out of the signal chain entirely when they are off. Radial describes it as a high-performance effects-loop switcher that lets you insert, remove, and combine pedals via two independent signal chains, while eliminating the tone-robbing problems of other switchers and the induced noise of true-bypass alternatives¹.

The two effects loops are wired in series, so the first loop feeds into the second¹. In practice that means you can split your pedals into two groups, for example time-based effects in one and gain pedals in the other, and switch each group in or out independently.

The design starts with Radial's 100% discrete class-A buffer circuit, which the company credits for audio fidelity and low noise¹. Radial says the class-A buffering delivers your full tone without affecting the bottom end, a claim that matters as much for bass players as for guitarists¹. Switching noise is handled with active class-A buffers and photocells that ramp up the signal level, which Radial says eliminates clicking and popping³.

Controls and connections

Vintage Guitar's review, by Bob Tekippe, lists the unit's connections and controls:

Drag Control is Radial's load correction circuit, which the company says lets you reintroduce the natural tone and feel of the guitar as if it were connected directly to a tube amplifier¹. For anyone who has plugged a modern buffered pedalboard into an amp and missed the feel of a straight guitar-to-amp connection, this is the control aimed at that problem.

The boost and what reviewers said

The Loopbone also includes a boost, and Tekippe's review in Vintage Guitar was positive about it:

The review found the boost produced a transparent volume boost with a slight edge on the clean setting, and an equally transparent, searing solo boost when used with the distorted loop². The review also noted the adjustable gain, the drag control, and the tuner-out jack as features².

At the time of that review, in August 2005, the Loopbone carried a retail price of $300².

Loopbone versus a true-bypass looper

A true-bypass loop switcher, like the Keeley True Bypass Looper, simply connects the loop's jacks straight through when the loop is off. The Loopbone takes the opposite approach: it keeps the signal running through active class-A buffers at all times, and uses photocells to ramp the signal level during switching so the change is not audible as a click or pop³. Radial's position is that true-bypass switching itself induces noise, and that a good buffer avoids both that noise and the tone loss of lesser switchers¹. Players who prefer to keep the guitar's raw signal untouched when effects are off may prefer a true-bypass design; players who want a consistent, buffered signal path with quiet switching are who the Loopbone was built for.

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