Radial Tonebone PZ-Pre Reviews

Mark McDowell
from Orlando, FL
April 10, 2013Music Background:
Pro musician

LOVE IT.

I only have 2 regrets about it: That I waited so long to get it, and that I only have 1! It's every thing that it promises to be, and more. I've had it 2 weeks, and have already used it in several different applications. It greatly improves the tone of acoustic-simulating piezo pickups in electric guitars. Used in on gigs to combine both my electric's piezo channel and either my steel or nylon string acoustic. Currently using it in a pit-orchestra, with an archtop on one channel and a banjo on the other. It's great for killing noise. An audio tech pointed out to me the other day that while some might consider it expensive, well, everybody knows how good Radial products are, and this is like 4 of them combined into one! (Two DI's, a switcher and a preamp) so it's actually a real bargain. But I must say this: EVERY other box I've ever put in front of my Taylor 714 has made it sound worse. This actually made it sound better.

Mark
from Ctrl FL
March 22, 2013Music Background:
Pro musician

LOVE this pedal

Can't believe I waited so long to get this. Made my piezo-bridge electric guitar sound more "acoustic-y" than ever, was easy to tweak the right freq's in and out. Usually acoustic processors (even good ones) weaken the original tone, but this actually improved, if not preserved it.
Most impressed by the boost...I found that noon was perfect, but you can crank it to 5' oclock, and it is still CLEAN clean.

from Powell River, BC
February 19, 2013Music Background:
Pro Musician

Great preamp foracoustic guitar

This is a fine unit - rugged, flexible and super easy to use. The combined boost and external loop feature is a great bonus - allows me to kick in external effects on my acoustic with no perceive loss of punch or tone. Love the low pass and notch filters. Would be nice to have two independent eqs to make use of the A-B switching capability with having to add a separate eq for a second guitar, but great to have both pre and post eq low impedance line outs. Excellent piece of gear.

Oscar A Sanchez
from Mamaroneck,N.Y.
January 15, 2013Music Background:
Guitar Player, Live Band and Studio

A Great Product Live and Studio

I play a Taylor 514ce that I've had for over 12yrs .I used to plug into a Trace 30 acoustic amp .With some tweaking I could make it sound very good . I sold that amp and was temporarily using my JBL PA w the 15 inch speakers. It sounded passable but mostly brittle and not naturally pleasant. Once I connected the PZ-pre the" Magic " began to happen . I've been playing for 50 yrs and have never heard an amplified acoustic sound so beautiful and natural . On top of that you get so many options for live and studio applications that I just love to play through this pedal for any acoustic performance. Thanks Matt this was a great buy , a true joy to have such a musical tool .

Alan Patterson
from Spokane, WA USA
June 25, 2012Music Background:
Recording/Live Sound engineer, Semi-pro musician (25 yrs)

Tough, smooth, and effective

I used this on stage for a madolin and a banjo (complete with a delay pedal - don't ask). Aside from having to tweahthe notch filter (which works REALLY well, btw), it was a seamless switch. I also love the fact that you can set the two channels to blend for instruments that have a bridge and body pickup. Only half-star off is this: Why give me two channels and only one EQ?

from Miami, FL
May 1, 2012Music Background:
pro jazz guitarist

Incredible Preamp / DI

Got the pz-pre after trying several DIs and preamps throughout many years. The pz-pre is definitely the best out there, in my opinion. It really excels with both nylon and steel string guitars. Worth every penny!

Chris Larkin
from MIranda, CA USA
April 27, 2012Music Background:
Multi-instrumentalist/writer

Just what I expected from Radial -- another excellent product!

Extremely versatile and easy to use.

However - advertising isn't consistent in visual presentation (photographs in print ads, website and even on the box). All visual ads show a different unit (color scheme and placement of controls and control and toggle descriptions). The screws are now Phillips instead of the preferable Allen screws shown in ads.

Steve Clark
from United States
April 2, 2012Music Background:
Live Professional Performer

PZ Fever

I replaced my Baggs Para DI with the Tonebone PZ-Pre because I switch between 2 axes (Dobro and guitar) and sometimes forget to nod at the soundman when I un-plug which creates understandable grimaces all around-especially, Mr. Soundman.

The Tonebone PZ-Pre (yeah--catchy name, eh?), other than having a terrible moniker, is a fine accessory. First, it has an A/B switch so I can seamlessly swap instruments. Second, it has a MUTE switch. Third, it has a Boost button. Those are all sweet features. It has 3 outputs-both 1/4" and 2@ XLR (pre-and post-EQ) with notch filter, Peizo booster, and decent EQ.

If you perform on stage AND you switch instruments, this (Radial Tonebone PZ-Pre) is a worthy companion. The price is a bit tall for a working musician...hopefully, Radial will do something about that issue.

J.P. Reali
from Washington, D.C.
January 27, 2012Music Background:
Working Musician/live engineer

Radial Tonebone PZ-Pre

I bought this item to use on my live gigs. I am a solo acoustic blues player and I usually gig with at least two guitars. The Tonebone PZ-Pre is perfect for what I do, allowing me to only cary one device that has two inputs and one output. I works great and the sound is outstanding. As a musician and live sound engineer I can honestly say that Radial equipment is the best for acoustic instruments!!

Joe Bac
from Scotts Valley, CA
September 19, 2011Music Background:
Musician

Top shelf box

If you use two different acoustic guitars that have different output volumes, this little DI is perfect. The best thing about it is the sound. I was using a competitive DI product (the one with all the digitized microphones) and was not happy with this tone. The PZ-PRE gets 5.0 in the tone department for sure. I love the boost for solos. The only reason I did not give this box a total 5/5 is because I wish there was a switch to just keep the loop on all the time. In other words, the boost button gets assigned to the loop or the boost or both. I want to operate them independently or keep the loop on at all times. A simple switch with that a s feature would fix that. Anyway, if TONE is your #1 objective, look no further.

D. Adams
from Cincinnati, OH
January 31, 2011Music Background:
FOH Engineer

Flexible, Accurate and well worth the investment

Of friend of mine suggested I try this piece, as he uses it as his main acoustic guitar preamp and his live sound is beautiful. So, I bought one on his recommendation.

I ended up using this pedal for the next three gigs I had - 1st night, as an upright acoustic bass (piezo pickup) pre, 2nd night for an acoustic guitarist with two guitars (love the switching and fb notch) and the 3rd night on an electric/acoustic bass. What a joy! Wonderful sound from all sources and many compliments.

Finally, used it again this past weekend on acoustic guitar for a national touring artist who has a rather complex rig (but was unhappy with her sound/tone). Well, the PZ Pre is now on her list of 'Must Buy' as it gave her a solid, full tone and cured several problems in the touring rig.

Try one, buy one - you won't regret the addition to your rig or backline 'toy box'.

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