Vancouver, BC (April 7, 2016) -- Radial Engineering Ltd. is pleased to announce the Tonebone Bumper, a compact instrument selector.
The Bumper lets you connect up to four instruments to a single guitar amp and select between them using a single footswitch. According to Radial's Jay Porter: "Today, playing music is all about options. One song may require a Les Paul, the next a Strat or even a Dobro. This is the beauty of the world we live in. Music lovers are enjoying so many styles and they are merging together like never before. The Bumper is a tool that we developed specifically for those who must quickly change between instruments on stage. It works with electric guitar, bass and of course all kinds of acoustic instruments too! You plug in, advance the selector footswitch to the desired input and you are set to go! Super bright LEDs follow your every move to let you know which input is ready for use. The Bumper is super compact to fit on any pedalboard and automatically self-configures for the number of instruments you are using."
The design begins with Radial's coveted Class-A buffer circuit for the most natural tone. Each instrument can further be tailored with Drag™ control load correction to compensate for the buffer and replicate the tone and feel as if connected directly to an amplifier. When combining active and passive instruments, high output active ones can be adjusted using the trim control to reduce the sensitivity. This allows quick changeovers without having to adjust stage amp volumes or settings on the PA and monitors. In addition to the stage amp out, there is a separately buffered tuner out for quick on-the-fly adjustments.
The Bumper is perfectly suited for both electric and acoustic guitar, bass or may be combined with a Radial DI for use with mandolin, dobro, violin or any other instrument.
The Bumper will start shipping soon. Estimated MAP price is $169.99 USD.
Radial Engineering Ltd. is pleased to announce the TONEBONE Headlight, a compact guitar amp selector that is able to sequentially activate up to four amps using a single footswitch. A second muting footswitch may be used for quiet on-stage tuning or switching instruments between songs. It can also be set up to turn all of the amps on at once.
According to Radial's head of Artist Relations, Jim Rhodes: "Radial has been making guitar and amp switchers for years. But with more and more artists traveling on airplanes, concerns regarding extra baggage costs have become common place. We hear this regularly from the artists we work with and this resulted in our working to come up with a solution that is both compact and super easy to use. Depending on how many outputs are in use, the Headlight lets you advance through them using a single footswitch, while ignoring the ones that are not connected. This eliminates the typical four or five switches that are usually employed and reduces the size to accommodate a smaller pedalboard."
The design begins with Radial's legendary Class-A buffer circuit to eliminate distortion and artefact. This is coupled with Drag™ control load correction to deliver the natural tone and feel of the instrument. From there, each output is optimized to eliminate the hum and buzz that is commonly associated with ground loops. A series of ultra-bright LED indicators provide visual status feedback for the active outputs and mute function. The Headlight is made from 14-gauge steel to ensure the protection against outside stress. This also shields the inner workings from external magnetic fields. Power may be supplied by any standard 9V PSU (not included) or by a typical multi-pedal power brick.
Coming Soon. Estimated MAP price is $169.99 USD
Radial Engineering Ltd. is pleased to announce the Headlight-Pro, a unique direct box designed for artists who employ multiple instruments on stage.
The Headlight-Pro begins with a standard 1/4" input for acoustic guitar, mandolin, fiddle or bass. In fact, it works great with just about any instrument. A muting footswitch lets you silence the switcher when connecting or disconnecting an instrument. The signal is then routed to a selector footswitch that sequences across four outputs allowing each instrument to have its own dedicated channel on the PA. You simply mute the Headlight-Pro, connect the desired instrument and then use the footswitch to select the output. High visibility LED indicators provide clear visual feedback to let you know which output is active.
Radial Tech Team associate Mike Bauer explains: °When you are on a busy stage, switching instruments can pose several challenges. When sharing the same direct box, switching between an acoustic guitar and mandolin requires both the FOH engineer and monitor engineer to mute the active mixer channel in order to avoid damaging plug-in transients and painful pops for the audience. You then need to alter the EQ and adjust the level to adapt it for each instrument. Alternatively, when using separate DI boxes, you end up with a bunch of wires connected to each instrument which often get tangled. Ask any stage tech and they will tell you that the preferred approach would be to use a single cable and manually switch between instruments and ideally, do so without need for concurrent action from the audio engineer team. WIth the Headlight-Pro the artist can mute the instrument on stage and avoid having to flag down the FOH and monitor engineers between each changeover. Since each instrument is now connected to a dedicated channel, the signal level, EQ and effects can be predetermined and optimized without having to make radical changes every time an instrument is changed. With so many auxiliary musicians onstage these days, there has never been a more appropriate time for this type of solution."
The Headlight-Pro features 4 active balanced outputs, each of which is equipped with a ground lift switch to help eliminate hum and buzz caused by ground loops and a 180º polarity reverse switch to either help time-align the PA with the stage amp, or help eliminate acoustic hot-spots on stage that can cause certain frequencies to combine and create feedback. All of the connectors are made from glass-filled nylon for exceptional durability and isolation and feature nickel-silver contacts that will not tarnish over time. Two set & forget switches allow the user to limit the range of the selector footswitch to two, three or four active outputs. There is also a dedicated tuner out that is always on for quick on-the-fly adjustments.
Radial tough, the Headlight-Pro is made from heavy 14-gauge steel for added rigidity and greater immunity against stray magnetic fields. It employs a standard Boss-style 9V power supply (not included) and is equipped with a cable lock to prevent accidental disconnection.
The Headlight-Pro is coming soon and estimated MAP price is $279.99 USD.
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