# Radial BigShot PB1



## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

...i brought one home from l&m (which has become the worst music store...but that's another thread...) yesterday.

i have a humungous pedal board, and all those pedals, cables and adaptors cannot help but degrade the signal.

the radial bigshot pb1 is manufactured by the same canadian company that makes trimode and hot british o/d pedals, which are also on my board.

i have become a huge fan of the simple sound of a guitar and an amp. i had a feeling that a buffer would be a good idea, but the pb1 has far exceeded my expectations. 

its a combination buffer and booster.

the purpose, for guys like me, is to "buff" the guitar tone, in order to restore the natural sound of the guitar, which suffers as a result of the degradation in tone from running through all those aforementioned pedals, cable, adaptors etc. 

the boost feature is also handy, to equalize the level when i switch from humbucking to single coil guitars. i have to say, the clean boost alone is worth the price.

but its the buffer that blows me away. using it for the first time last night, i was astounded by the tone oozing from my fingers. usually, its a struggle. the difference, with the pb1, really is dramatic. 

-dh


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## Milkman (Feb 2, 2006)

david henman said:


> ...i brought one home from l&m (which has become the worst music store...but that's another thread...) yesterday.
> 
> i have a humungous pedal board, and all those pedals, cables and adaptors cannot help but degrade the signal.
> 
> ...


Sounds like a keeper. I'm not dissimilar to you in the sense that I like to have a wide array of effects available but don't really use a heavily processed sound. It's nice to have all those sounds at your fingertips, but if they suck your sound even when not in use it.....sucks.


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## ne1roc (Mar 4, 2006)

Sounds interesting! Where do you place it in the chain?

I was thinking of getting the Loop Bone to bypass any of my non-true bypass pedals. It has the drag feature to adjust pickup loading.


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

ne1roc said:


> Sounds interesting! Where do you place it in the chain?
> I was thinking of getting the Loop Bone to bypass any of my non-true bypass pedals. It has the drag feature to adjust pickup loading.



...the pb1 goes right at the very beginning of the chain of effects and processors.

it also has that drag feature, although i don't pretend to have a clue what it does.

i do like the advantage of not having to bypass the pedals, meaning that it is still active when i'm using my effects.

-dh


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## Guest (Jun 26, 2007)

david henman said:


> it also has that drag feature, although i don't pretend to have a clue what it does.


Excellent little box from one of my favourite Canadian manufacturers. The drag function on it is sweet. It lets you regain the lower impedence relationship you get when you plug straight into your amp with your guitar. I've used a Dragster with my wireless unit for about 6 months now and the difference is night and day. It gives the unit a more dynamic feel when I use it. Before the Dragster my wireless was really starting to look like an expensive door stop. I couldn't handle how my guitar signal reacted with my amp when I used it.

There isn't a bad product in the Radial line up. If they're not on the Canadian gear manufacturer list on this board already they should be.


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## traynor_garnet (Feb 22, 2006)

david henman said:


> ...the pb1 goes right at the very beginning of the chain of effects and processors.
> 
> i do like the advantage of not having to bypass the pedals, meaning that it is still active when i'm using my effects.
> 
> -dh


Does this screw with your fuzz pedals? A lot of fuzz pedals don't want anything in front of them with any type of buffer; that is why they should also go first in line.

TG


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## gtrguy (Jul 6, 2006)

GONE


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## gtrguy (Jul 6, 2006)

GONE


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## ENDITOL (Feb 5, 2006)

Totally agree, proper buffering is ESSENTIAL if you run more then 3-4 true bypass FX. I buffer at the beginning and the end of my chain because I run a lot of stuff including a passive volume pedal in the middle...


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## david henman (Feb 3, 2006)

traynor_garnet said:


> Does this screw with your fuzz pedals? A lot of fuzz pedals don't want anything in front of them with any type of buffer; that is why they should also go first in line. TG



...i had this problem with the seymour duncan pickup booster. the radial tonebones (trimode and hot british) did not play well with the pickup booster.

i'll be using the pb1 for the first time at a couple of shows this weekend, so that will tell the tale.

-dh


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## Kapo_Polenton (Jun 20, 2007)

I guess Wah pedals might also suffer from the same possible fate that affects fuzz pedals. How much was this unit? I just started looking at radial's products. I don't have an effects loop on my plexi clone and sometimes for lead it would be nice to have some boost and delay.. as I play it full out and attenuated, I get a lot of hiss and a boost pedal on top of it only adds more. Would be nice if i could get this managed.. I will check out their stuff based on what you have written. Were the prices reasonable? for something Canadian made, it surprises me sometimes how their products seem to be priced cheaper in the states!


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## Kapo_Polenton (Jun 20, 2007)

The big shot MIX also interests me.. might be good for us folks with no effects loops! But the ability to drive an entire pedal chain?!! that removes the use for power supplies doesn't it? Or am i dreaming.


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