The Tonebone Classic is our most flexible distortion pedal. With three drive settings and a variable drive control, you can dial in everything from dirt to drastic and everywhere in between.

The Classic's design is based on vintage overdrive sounds that started in the 1960's and 1970's and today remain some of the most sought after tones. The Classic is exceptionally dynamic and transparent and as such, is extremely adept at retaining your playing style and signature.

Even at high distortion settings, you can turn your guitar level down and the Classic cleans up naturally and without the noise, hum or buzz that is common with most other pedals. At higher settings, every note remains distinct and the natural tone of the instrument shines through.

Drive and Level Controls

The Tonebone Classic design follows the way a guitar amplifier works whereby the input DRIVE is akin to the input channel volume, while the LEVEL control acts more like a master volume control.

As such, the DRIVE control provides overall input gain to the distortion circuit. This works in conjunction with the 3-position DRIVE switch that controls low, mid or high distortion range settings. At low settings, the Classic creates lighter rock & roll tones like the sounds you would hear from Keith Richards or the cleaner side of Hendrix. In the mid-distortion range, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Eric Clapton type tones come alive. At the higher distortion settings, Eddie Van Halen to Eric Johnson type solo tones can be created while big chunky rhythm tones from Boston to ZZ Top to Deep Purple are also easily attained.

Equalization and Tonal Structure

The Tonebone Classic employs active post-distortion equalization for maximum flexibility. Tone shaping is performed with three controls and two switches thus allowing the guitarist to dial in the type of tonal structure that may be desired.

HIGH and LOW equalization are extremely active providing up to 15dB of gain control. These work in conjunction with the TOP-END and MID-BOOST controls. Overall shaping begins with the TOP-END control with choice of Dark, Normal or Bright settings which are used to compensate for the tonal characteristics of the amplifier. The FILTER control overlaps the high-end with a subtle roll-off to further compensate for overly bright amplifiers.

The MID-BOOST switch is used to fatten-up single coil pick-ups or to add ?meat? to the tone for additional cut during soloing. The Classic's mid-range frequencies have been carefully selected to work with popular amplifiers like Twins and Marshalls. These settings are extremely effective at compensating for clean oriented channels on classic tube amplifiers.

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