Owner`s manual

True to the Music

Radial Engineering Loopbone Owner’s Manual

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR LOOPBONE

Block Diagram

To best understand the signal flow through your Loopbone, start by

familiarizing yourself with the block diagram.

The Signal Path

The Loopbone circuit employs buffering which ensures that the guitar

signal does not drop or change as the effects loops are engaged. Buff-

ering also has the advantage of lowering the impedance, thus reducing

susceptibility to noise while allowing longer cable runs. This is of great

advantage when performing on larger stages and when surrounded by

noise-emitting devices such as stage lighting dimmers, power transform-

ers and power cables.

A buffer is, in fact, an active pre-amplifier. These, like all things in life,

are not all created equal. Most pedals employ integrated circuit (IC)

chips or operational amplifiers (op-amps) to buffer the signal. These are

very small and efficient – thus, they require very little power and produce

good level with relatively low noise. The problem, however, with ICs and

op-amps, is that they simply do not sound very good. For years, audio-

philes have migrated to 100% discreet Class-A circuits, as they sound

best. Your Loopbone is 100% discreet Class-A and its design is without

rival.

The Tuner Out

This separate tuner out is always on, allowing you to connect your tuner

to the Loopbone without it interfering with the signal chain. It is impor-

tant to note that many tuners can load down the guitar pickup causing

the signal to weaken. The Loopbone’s tuner out has its own separate

buffer so that it will not affect the guitar tone.

From Guitar

To Amp

Tuner ouput is always on for ‘on the fly’ tuning