Those of you using two amps...

Tex Mexico · September 2023

What's your setup?

I'm about to go down the rabbit-hole of using two combos (for now, Peavey Classics 50 and 30) and as you know the possible combinations for setting them and the effects chain up are endless. I don't have all the bits yet so I'm trying to get a list together of good configurations to try out.

The C50 is 1990 so no effects loop but the C30 does have one - I'm not sure if I'll end up using it though as I like effects up the front. Otherwise I've kind of settled on this as a starting point:

Guitar>Dunlop Wah>Ibanez TS9>Ibanez Tuner

The tuner will be the splitter as it has a dry-thru.

Tuner Main Out>Carbon Copy Deluxe> Monty's MORE! (side A)> Classic 50

Tuner dry thru>Dunlop Volume pedal>BOO Tremolo> Monty's MORE! (side

> Classic 30

The Monty's MORE! is a dual clean boost.

I'll be running both amps on the dirt channels at edge-of-breakup, with the Classic 50 a hair cleaner. Both amps also have switches for channel and reverb.

I figure this way I can mute either amp using the Tuner or the volume pedal, I can have delay on one side and trem on the other, and loads of different gain-staging options. I can also run one reverb subtle and the other full-on so I can have either or both.

Is there something I'm overlooking? Those of you who have experience with this, what do you think I should expect and do you have any suggestions to improve?

Musicwolf · September 2023

Tex Mexico said:

The tuner will be the splitter as it has a dry-thru.

By all means try this but you may experience ground loops, in which case you will need to introduce some form of isolation into one of the lines. Probably the easiest way is to get a dedicated splitter with isolated outputs.

Something like this from Bright Onion.

theatreanchor · September 2023

I use the Gigrig humdinger. That way you avoid phase issues too. Worth watching the TPS episode on two amps. https://youtu.be/M6PEtP46BnU

tekbow · September 2023

The below is my front end board.

So the guitar goes into the tuner, then a bright onion splitter (with buffered isolated outs).

The secondary branch goes to two keyed noise gates on the bottom right each of which sit in the loops of their respective amps via a four gang patch box under the board (you can see the 4 cables at the side of top right).

The main branch goes through the drop, the wah, the fuzz, the comp, the 2 ODs top left, and the Pepers Dirty Tree.

Then into a Bright onion AB/Y (again buffered isolated outputs). This is where the board originally ended, but I bought a Mimiq later so fed it with the outputs from the AB/Y. This introduced a ground loop so I added an Orchid Isolator box on one of the Mimiq outputs.

What you can't see are the time based effects.

They consist of a Boss GT1000-Core (stereo ins) fed by the post lineouts (not FX sends) of the two amps.

There's some routing shenanigans inside the Core, and what you effectively have is a Wet/Dry/Dry/Wet.

Petepassion · September 2023

I had ground hum when I used my Marshall SV20 And AC50 together, so now I use one of these if I ever want to try two amps switching or together.
https://www.andertons.co.uk/radial-engineering-bones-twin-city-buffered-aby-pedal-twincityaby

Tex Mexico · September 2023

Musicwolf said:

Tex Mexico said:

The tuner will be the splitter as it has a dry-thru.

By all means try this but you may experience ground loops, in which case you will need to introduce some form of isolation into one of the lines. Probably the easiest way is to get a dedicated splitter with isolated outputs.

Something like this from Bright Onion.

That's a good shout, thanks to you and everyone who reminded me of potential ground hum and phase headaches. I have grabbed one of these Bright Onion boxes so hopefully that should take care of that issue. Thanks!

Wazmeister · September 2023

Lehle Little Dual - spendy but silent

rsvmark · September 2023

Wet dry rig here.

Compression, drives etc then a split via a Boss ES8
The dry then goes to output 2, Lehle p split for isolation and phase and then to the dry amp.
Wet then goes via modulation and time based fx to output 1 and then to the wet amp

My wet amp has an fx loop but to be honest, I prefer everything into the front end so I don’t bother with the 4 cable method.

A lot of kit to carry about but the sound is rather pleasingly pleasant

And to answer the op question. The 2 things to look out for are isolation (ground loop issues) and phases

jellybelly · September 2023

Have done this in the past - as others have said, passive types can have many disadvantages which outweigh their simplicity/cheapness.

Best to have a dedicated, buffered and isolated a/b/y if you're going to do it properly!

If just A/B between two sounds then it's much less of a big deal.

ElectricXII · September 2023

I ran a two amp gigging setup for a short while. My 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb and AC15 sounded fantastic together, and I avoided phase and hum issues with an Orange Amp Detonator ABY Pedal. However, although the sound on stage was good to my ears, major problems for me were lack of portability, complexity and sometimes stage room. Even worse, some sound guys would favour one or other of my amps in the FOH mix, which meant that the audience was not hearing what I had carefully created. I've gone back to a single amp, with all my effects going into the front.

If you can make the two amp thing work in live situations then I salute and envy you!

Cirrus · September 2023

ElectricXII said:

Even worse, some sound guys would favour one or other of my amps in the FOH mix, which meant that the audience was not hearing what I had carefully created.

This was what did it for me - I had an ac30cc that I'd modded - the whole hog, different transformers, speakers, vintage voicing... & a stock Vox Night Train. Stereo effects. The sound guy just put the night train into the FOH because he didn't like chinese AC30s. Didn't even listen to it.

BintyTwanger77 · September 2023

Anyone tried a stereo set up with two AC10C1s before?

p90fool · September 2023

I've done a few gigs lately with just guitar/drums/singer and use a Radial ABY pedal with phase reverse and ground switch.

I just run dual mono into an HRD and a 50w Marshall half stack, the latter dialled in for way more low frequencies than you'd usually use in a band mix. They're among our most fun gigs for me to be honest, I have almost total control over band dynamics.

hessodreamy · September 2023

BintyTwanger77 said:

Anyone tried a stereo set up with two AC10C1s before?

I’m considering it. Or an ac10 and pro jnr.

Flanging_Fred · September 2023

I just plug my two Marshall combos into the stereo out of my Boss DD500 (or Hardwire RV7 reverb if I’m using it). I’ve never noticed any problems with noise or phase.

Neilybob · September 2023

I wanted to go wet/dry which I tried. Got horrible hum from one of my amps so I borrowed and in the end bought a Decibel Eleven Split Personality which has a ground lift to cancel the hum and also a phase switch.

Neilybob · September 2023

Wazmeister said:

Lehle Little Dual - spendy but silent

Isn't this Joe Boe's splitter of choice?

JohnPerry · September 2023

BintyTwanger77 said:

Anyone tried a stereo set up with two AC10C1s before?

Almost. An AC10C1 and a Marshall SV20C. That combination is sublime.

I had two identical SV20Cs at one point but it was nowhere near as good. The stereo effect was a bit neutered by both amps sounding identical. Much better to have two that complement each other.

BintyTwanger77 · September 2023

JohnPerry said:

BintyTwanger77 said:

Anyone tried a stereo set up with two AC10C1s before?

Almost. An AC10C1 and a Marshall SV20C. That combination is sublime.

I had two identical SV20Cs at one point but it was nowhere near as good. The stereo effect was a bit neutered by both amps sounding identical. Much better to have two that complement each other.

Ah yes, John I remember reading your glowing thread about AC10s a few years and that helped sway me towards buying one, and zero disappointment. Pound for pound, outstanding tone for your money. I’ve heard good things about a PRRI/AC10 combo as well but will look into the SV20 too.

Tex Mexico · September 2023

Thanks all for your answers, lots of good stuff here.

Quick addendum: I recently came across a couple of posts saying you could "jump" the C50 mkI by inserting a dummy jack into the bright input with your guitar in the normal input, giving you the equivalent of the mid boost available on later models.

I tried this using a shorted 1/4" - phono adaptor, and what I seem to get is a treble cut.

Does that make sense? Am I doing it wrong?

57Deluxe · September 2023

For simply running into two amps, I use my Digitech DigiDelay as it has stereo out.

It does not need to be engaged, so you can have two pedal lines with other modulation if you wish.

Digitech XDD DigiDelay

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