Changing board-mounted stompswitch, what a pain!!! 8^(

[Burstbucker]

I've been having problems with the stompswitch on my Tonebone Classic, at first it would only cut out once in awhile but it just kept getting worse.  I informed Radial about this and they were good enough to send me a new 2pdt footswitch which I replaced myself.

Well, it was a lot harder job than I thought it would be!  I ended up having to cut the old switch in pieces with a pair of side cutters while it was still mounted to the board, then I had a chance to pull each leg off.  I never did anything like this before, so it was a learning experience.  I hope that this latest switch lasts longer than the three months that the first one did.  But, on the plus side, I repaired the pedal without any damage and it works like new again.  8^)

BTW, while I had the Tonebone opened up I tried swapping the 12AX7 tube with some other brands that I had laying around the house and I couldn't hear any significant difference between using one tube or the other.  And while I was at it, I tried swapping the original 12AX7 tube in my (Tube Works) Real Tube overdrive pedal and again the same result or lack of result.  

My Real Tube Overdrive pedal has the original tube in it(1993) and it still sounds ok, so I'm guessing that these types of pedals can almost go on forever with the same tube.  They recommend changing the tube every 2-3 years but I can't see it myself, since a new tube didn't make the pedal sound any better than the 12 year old tube!  They run at such a low voltage and barely even get warm.

[Paul Marossy]

Preamp tubes will last quite a long while in comparison to power tubes!