Radial Headbone VT Tube Amp Head Switcher Pedal Reviews
The Radial Headbone is a power tool for serious guitarists (at Sweetwater, we've got plenty of those)! Headbone is a purpose-built switching device that lets you toggle between two different tube amp heads while using a single speaker cab. With a Headbone in your rig, you can deploy, for instance, your Marshall head for rhythm and your Mesa-Boogie for solos. The Headbone rocks 100% discrete Class A circuitry for phenomenal audio performance, a transformer-isolated signal path to eliminate ground loops, and your choice of buffered or un-buffered inputs to optimize the signal path. If you demand maximum tonal perfection onstage and in the studio, the Radial Headbone is a must-have.
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Highest Rated Reviews
A great, compact amp switching solution.
A nice little unit—compact and easy to use. Our YouTube channel was recently sent one of these to demo. Below is a video on how I incorporated the Headbone VT into my studio rig. It also covers how to properly connect it up (and a few additional things you should consider before buying). Feel free to check it out via the link below. Thanks!
Couldn’t Be Happier!
The setup is straightforward and logical. Works EXACTLY as advertised. Built like a tank. This is my second Radial product. They build good stuff.
Pro tip... get the Radial latching footswitch and run this box remotely. Trying to use this in a pedalboard setup would be a huge mess. Running it by the remote switch is the way to go. The footswitch is the Radial Engineering JR-1L Latching Footswitch with Active (LED) Or Passive Circuit Selector... Trust me on this, it's worth it. It fits easily in a pedalboard.
Does the job well
Sturdy and reliable. Adds no noise I can hear. Best to place on top of amps and use remote as slingshot.
The first head switcher that does exactly what it says.
Works perfectly. PERFECTLY. I loving having the freedom to switch between heads while on stage.
Lost a star because it's quite bulky. Gotta run 5 cables into this thing (half are speaker cables).
It says there's a slingshot that can be used but I cannot find it online anywhere.
It kind of works…
I bought this 3 months ago and I have used it extensively. It has always had a problem switching between channels. I click the remote switch and it illuminates but it does not switch to the other head. It most of the time takes multiple tries to get it to switch. Today I was messing with my rig trying to figure out why I wasn't digging my tone anymore. When I decided to bypass the inputs on the headbone. There it was my tone was back. I tested input and output cables, I tried the ground lift switch, buffered input and direct input. Nothing sounded the same as plugging straight into the amp.
Tone Bone VT Tube Amp Switcher
Did a fair amount of research on this and even spent 30 min on the phone w Radial Eng. to get a definitive first hand schematic to run this with my 65 Vibrolux and Matchless DC30 head.
After patching it all together, it seemed to work flawlessly, slight lag on the switching but that is to be expected with ant A-B amp type switching, your technique can adjust for this.
I admit I was scared… about frying my Vibrolux, but I took the leap after being reassured by Radial that this is exactly what this device was made for.
I just used it last night for the first time live and after about 70min the device failed.
I wasn't 100% sure it was the Tonebone but it it just stopped switching altogether.
When I got home I checked everything; cords, amps, switch and everything worked, seems the device gave up somehow. This is a printed circuit board and all I can surmise is that the amount of switching, and rapid succession that I did it with live, was what caused the failure.
Whatever the case, I'm sending it back as I no longer have confidence and as you know, on stage you need that! Back to the A-B box......
