Darrin's Tone Bone British With NOS RCA 12AX7

[STRATDELUXER97]

I was inside of BluesNmettle's Tone Bone British Today and I replaced the stock JJ ECC83 with one of my NOS RCA Long Plate 12AX7s....I use a set of these in my Fender Cyber Twin also...They make things beefier and offer more gain and more output from my findings...

I told Darrin that there was something with the mids that bothered me with this pedal...Turns out that the pedal lacked the correct harmonic content and it acted flat and sterile to me with the JJ tube in there...

The RCA tube works great in the circuit..It gave the pedal a bit more gain(Which it doesn't lack)but it also opened the pedal's tone up alot..

Only slight adjustments were needed to retain great tonal settings going from my strat that has a Scremon Demon wired for split and series,and my Les Paul...The pedal retains great note articulation even at pretty high gain settings...Singing sustain is easy to get with this pedal and it is very british and in a Marshall way to my ears...I was able to keep my old 50 watt non-master volume Marshall settings very low and yet I still got ballsy bristish tones at lower amp volumes...This pedal is pricey,but I like it..

Inside the pedal is built really nice on a pcb with nice upgraded poly caps and metal film resistors....It uses jacks similar to what you see on Marshall amps and newer Crybaby pedals...The construction and mounting of the 12AX7 on a seperate circuit board looks strong also....I'm going to buy myself this pedal soon....

The only negative about the pedal,is the absence of an actual midrange pot instead of the 3 switch positions it has now...Other than this,I honestly couldn't tweak this pedal and change much about it....

Setting 1 (Plexi Marshall Kinda Tone)
Top End.....Flat
Voicing fat..Fat
Mid Boost...Out

Setting 2 (Modern Higher Gain Marshall) Great singing Lead tone and still good crunchy rhythm tones...Great volume control via the guitar between crunch and lead for solos...

Top End....Flat
Voicing.....Fat
Mid Boost... 7DB...

I enjoyed playing through this pedal and I'll probably buy one to have for my collection of cool pedals...

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Darrin's Tone Bone British With NOS RCA 12AX7

I was wondering if it was a very serviceable pedal, which would facilitate your mods and tweaks. I know you won't go pulliing stuff out of Darrin's pedal, but I'm curious to know what you would do, if it were yours. The Hotbritish has been much better recieved than the Classic, which gets so-so reviews. Too bad the Hotbritish cost
$235, because it's honestly the best pedal for most younger players looking for full-on gain at bedroom levels. I've only messed with it in the store, but the first thing I thought of was how good it would sound in front of a cleanish Marshall halfstack like yours.

 

[That90'sGuy]

Re: Darrin's Tone Bone British With NOS RCA 12AX7

My friend had a Tone Bone Classic and I thought it was a great pedal. It truly delivers very amp-like distortion. It's not cheap, but it's right up there with the best pedals IMHO. He used his through a vintage silverface Fender Bassman and could get some very Marshall-ish type tones.

I've never tried the Hot British, but if it can deliver what the Classic had, then I'm sure it's unbelievable.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Darrin's Tone Bone British With NOS RCA 12AX7

I was wondering if it was a very serviceable pedal, which would facilitate your mods and tweaks. I know you won't go pulliing stuff out of Darrin's pedal, but I'm curious to know what you would do, if it were yours. The Hotbritish has been much better recieved than the Classic, which gets so-so reviews. Too bad the Hotbritish cost
$235, because it's honestly the best pedal for most younger players looking for full-on gain at bedroom levels. I've only messed with it in the store, but the first thing I thought of was how good it would sound in front of a cleanish Marshall halfstack like yours.

GJ...Read my post again buddy....Other than replacing the tube,I'd do nothing to the pedal...A midrange control would be really great,but I don't see how I could make it work,plus the pedal would look hacked up with another drilled hole in it..The controls are cool..Very little movement on the controls,gives you alot of overall tonal control of the pedal...It's a cool pedal..

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Darrin's Tone Bone British With NOS RCA 12AX7

My friend had a Tone Bone Classic and I thought it was a great pedal. It truly delivers very amp-like distortion. It's not cheap, but it's right up there with the best pedals IMHO. He used his through a vintage silverface Fender Bassman and could get some very Marshall-ish type tones.

I've never tried the Hot British, but if it can deliver what the Classic had, then I'm sure it's unbelievable.

I get the feeling that the British might be better than the Classic...

John

 

[BlueSnMettle]

Re: Darrin's Tone Bone British With NOS RCA 12AX7

Sweet John!!!

Thanks for your assessments, & very cool of you to throw the RCA in there.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it so much & the new tube made an improvement.
Can't wait to try it with the tube switch. Very cool of you, indeed!!!
Thanks again, bro. I'm sure I'll be PMing you with new questions as they pop into my mind.

Peace,

Darrin

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Darrin's Tone Bone British With NOS RCA 12AX7

Sweet John!!!

Thanks for your assessments, & very cool of you to throw the RCA in there.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it so much & the new tube made an improvement.
Can't wait to try it with the tube switch. Very cool of you, indeed!!!
Thanks again, bro. I'm sure I'll be PMing you with new questions as they pop into my mind.

Peace,

Darrin

The tube switch brought the mids out better and gave the pedal more harmonic content and an overall dimension that the pedal lacked...Amazing what a great preamp tube can do!
Other than desiring a midrange pot,I wouldn't change anything about the pedal in it's stock form..It's got plenty of lows,plenty of highs,plenty of gain,and even with the 3 position mid switch,is otherwise pretty versatile and easy to dial in great tones...I can't speak for others that have tryed this pedal,but it sounded great through my gear and with my guitars..

I guess you could say I really liked it..

John

 

[Mike M.]

Re: Darrin's Tone Bone British With NOS RCA 12AX7

John, other than the Long Plate RCA tube that you mentioned do you have any other recommendations in place of the JJ tube? Thanks.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Darrin's Tone Bone British With NOS RCA 12AX7

John, other than the Long Plate RCA tube that you mentioned do you have any other recommendations in place of the JJ tube? Thanks.

Mike...Actually no,and only because I Knew the RCA that I had would work well in the pedal since I use the same tubes in my Cyber Twin...There are currently some decent priced RCA Long Plates I saw on E Bay you could check out...I still use alot of NOS tubes and I'm at a loss with current 12AX7s? I Know there are several others on the forum that you and I can both learn from though..

John

 

[Dave]

Re: Darrin's Tone Bone British With NOS RCA 12AX7

Darrin-

Did you ever try SIB's Varidrive vs. the Radial?

Dave

 

[BlueSnMettle]

Re: Darrin's Tone Bone British With NOS RCA 12AX7

Darrin-

Did you ever try SIB's Varidrive vs. the Radial?

Dave

Hey Dave,

No, I've never tried the Varidrive & admittedly am not to familiar with it.
If I'm not mistaken, it's a similar concept. Have you tried it? Aren't there different tube models available? I dunno? I'd be glad to hear about it.

Peace,

Darrin

 

[Dave]

Re: Darrin's Tone Bone British With NOS RCA 12AX7

Yes, it's a tube pedal that can handle a variety 12 ax 7, 12 au 7 and 12 at 7 for different drive levels. I've been interested in their pedals ever since my friend had a fat drive. It had ElectroHarmonix 12ax7 in it and it was very rich and transparent. The box had it's own 220v power cord and was SOLID.

http://williesguitars.com/Pages/effects.html
Check this out-scroll down a bit.

Sounds like the Tone Bone has more gain and distortion...Very nice!
Dave

 

[BlueSnMettle]

Re: Darrin's Tone Bone British With NOS RCA 12AX7

Thanks Dave,

I checked out the site & the pedal sounds intriguing. Different tubes for multiple gains. I'm gonna check that out a little further as I'm sure John will be interested in this as well. Thanks again.

Peace,

Darrin

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Darrin's Tone Bone British With NOS RCA 12AX7

Thanks Dave,

I checked out the site & the pedal sounds intriguing. Different tubes for multiple gains. I'm gonna check that out a little further as I'm sure John will be interested in this as well. Thanks again.

Peace,

Darrin

I'll check it out as well....

Stratcat is sending me his MXR Double Shot to compare to Darrin's Tone Bone...Stratcat had the Tone Bone British,but returned it...Stratcat wants more lows from his MXR which I'm sure is very doable for him...Anyone else compared these 2 pedals together?

John

 

[B2D]

Re: Darrin's Tone Bone British With NOS RCA 12AX7

I had a Hot British that i loved the sound of but it was ALWAYS having problems. The switch failed twice, it was noisy as hell, and the volume pot snapped after a tube change! I wasn't too big on the way they mounted the PC board either. I sent it out for 2 repairs and the problems still continued.

I honestly think i got a dud. :smack:

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: Darrin's Tone Bone British With NOS RCA 12AX7

I had a Hot British that i loved the sound of but it was ALWAYS having problems. The switch failed twice, it was noisy as hell, and the volume pot snapped after a tube change! I wasn't too big on the way they mounted the PC board either. I sent it out for 2 repairs and the problems still continued.

I honestly think i got a dud. :smack:

I replaced the tube in Darrin's with no problems and I didn't get the feeling the pedal was problamatic and it looked strong overall inside of Darrin's pedal..

John

 

[B2D]

Re: Darrin's Tone Bone British With NOS RCA 12AX7

The problem I see with it is that the PCB is mounted using only the in/out jacks, and the pot shafts themselves are put thru the top of the pedal and screwed in place... and then the pots are DIRECTLY mounted to the PCB which rather than being flywired. The pot on mine cracked after i changed a tube and was putting the screws back on the pot. I did make sure to be careful and not over tighten but it happened anyway. It also looks like the pots themselves were made of cheap pot metal at i could see a bunch of little air holes through the cracked section. I just didn't like the way the thing was held inside there cuz it seemed too delicate to me.

I did but it off ebay and it worked fine for about 2-3 gigs before i started getting the noise, switch failures, etc. Like I said, i think i just got a dud pedal.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Darrin's Tone Bone British With NOS RCA 12AX7

I gave a buddy of mine one of those Real Tube Tube Drivers. I just never used it. My friend found an old tube receiver and pulled out the tubes and had me check them for him. He had scored some nice old Telefunken tubes! So he put the best one in his Real Tube Tube Driver and the improvement was astonishing.

Those RCA long black plate 12ax7's like John put in Darrin's Tone Bone are my favorite NOS tubes to use in my old Fenders, BTW.

Lew

 

[BlueSnMettle]

Re: Darrin's Tone Bone British With NOS RCA 12AX7

:dance: Should be back in my hands tomorrow!!! Can't wait to try it!!! :dance:

 

[Stratcat]

Re: Darrin's Tone Bone British With NOS RCA 12AX7

I found the MXR double shot distortion to be real similiar in tone to the Tonebone British for about half the price. The main reason I returned the Tonebone is because it has the input for the power adaptor on the side of the pedal, and that caused a problem with the chain of effects on my pedalboard.