Radial Engineering Tonebone PZ Pre

When the industry-leading Raven Labs Pro Master Blender ended production a few years back, I kept hoping several of the big guitar electronics manufacturers would step in to fill the gap. One such replacement was the Highlander PAMDI, but that is no longer in production. Another was the very excellent DTAR Solstice, which of course we carry. But while that is a great piece of gear, I've been hoping for a good rival to show up to make things interesting. And it has: The Radial Engineering / Tonebone PZ Pre.

With a ground lift, tuner send, effects loop, robust EQ and notching, boost and mute footswitches, as well as Radial's legendary uncolored, clean sound and stage-ready construction, it's hard to imagine a more feature-packed blender. It's even more amazing that this rings in at only $299. If you have two pickups to blend—and even if you don't—I recommend this without reservation. However, if you're looking for a more compact stage DI for a single instrument, it's also worth checking out Radial's PZ Deluxe.

Customer Reviews

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Paul Sweeney
Best Acoustic Pre-amp Period

This is the second PZ pre I've owned. I've used it solo, with a second lead guitarist, with different types of acoustic pickups--all sound clear and noiseless. I've used the send and receive with a Keeley compressor and a Zen Drive. The flexibility you get, with high headroom that 15 volts gives, is second to none. I've used other pre-amps--none come close. Buy without reservation.

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chris mercado
Radial PZ Pre

This preamp is second to none for a floor stomp preamp....I have two others from popular companies and build quality, quality of sound is noticeable....radial has more headroom and cleaner signal...I dont use the second channel but use all the other features ie, effect loop, boost, only down side is you can't use battery to power unit, needs to be plugged in (15v power supply). very well thought out preamp....

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JC
Great preamp and EQ pedal

This preamp box is excellent. It gives you many options to EQ the sounds of your instruments. I have used it with acoustic guitars, electric guitars, acoustic basses, electric basses. Every instrument I have tried works pretty well with this box. It builds like a tank. It dose not work with battery, but the power supply is included (however, I am not a big fan of the red cord).
One thing I like very much is the high pass filter. Sometimes, my guitar could sound very muddy in certain room and this high pass filter saved my life many times.
The EQ is very very useful. I plugged my electric arch-top guitar into this preamp, when I turned down the mid just a little bit, the guitar sounds like very nice acoustic guitar. When I boost the bass, turn up the mid, turn down the treble, it gives me very nice warm, rich jazz guitar sound. I am very happy with this preamp and trust in it a lot. Highly recommend it.
The only thing some people might not like is that it is supplied with 15V power supply. I don't use a pedal board, so it doesn't matter to me.

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